USA > Alabama > Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. Volume I > Part 126
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pation and served in the late war four years. Ater the close of the war he resumed farming, which he followed till his death, which occurred in July, 1891, in his sixty-first year. Her mother was also a native of Ala- bama, was educated at home, and was married in her twenty-first year. She is the mother of six children, all of whom are living, as well as herself. She resides at Columbia, Ala. The wife of our subject was brought up in Barbour county, and came with her parents to Henry county, and was educated for the most part in the advanced schools of Lawrenceville, under the careful supervision of her uncle, Prof. Joseph Espy. She was married in her twenty-first year, and is the mother of four chlidren, three of whom are living: Hattie M. ; Ida, and Francis R .; William Harrison died in infancy. Our subject began life on a farm for himself in 1877, and has continued in this line ever since. He now owns a tract of land containing 1,800 acres of as fine land as there is in Henry county. Upon this farm he has erected the best of buildings, including a large and commodious and well ventilated house. He has good tenant houses, convenient lots and stables, orchards full of fine fruit trees, fields bearing excellent crops of all kinds, and every appearance of thrift and prosperity. While our subject is yet a young man, he is regarded as one of the most progressive farmers of the county. He is a democrat in politics, and takes active interest in the political questions of the day. He is a member of Lawrenceville lodge, No. 248, A. F. & A. M., and a valuable member of society.
REASON W. IRWIN, farmer of Henry county, was born in Georgia in 1840. He was one of ten children born to Alexander and Margaret M. (Lawson) Irwin. The former was a Georgian, and was raised and mar- ried in his native state. He was one of the wealthy men of Georgia, owning large quantities of land and a great many slaves. His death occurred in 1839. Mrs. Margaret M. Lawson, was born in Georgia, was a woman of education and accomplishments, and was the mother of ten children. She died in 1852. R. W. Irwin grew to manhood on his mother's plantation, and was given every educational advantage the country afforded. He is justly proud of .his Irish ancestry. Three brothers came from Ireland at an early day, and settled in Virginia. From one of these brothers sprang the ancestors of Mr. Irwin. One of his uncles settled in Henry county in 1825, bought up vast tracts land and represented Henry county in the legislature for many years. He was a distingiushed military man, and during the Indian troubles in Barbour county took an active part and rendered his country valu- able service. The present city of Eufaula, formerly named Irwinton, was named in his honor. He died in 1850. Mr. R. W. Irwin and his brother inherited the estates. Mr. Irwin and his four brothers came to Henry county, the former taking up the vocation of farmer, which he followed until the breaking out of the war. He went out as first lieutenant in the company known as the Irwin Invincibles, serving three and a half
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years. His brother was captain of this company. In 1863 Mr. Irwin was married to Miss Anna Worthen, daughter of Richard Worthen, who was one of the wealthy planters and merchants of Georgia, and a. man of education and culture. His death occurred in 1862. The wife of R. W. Irwin grew to womanhood under the paternal roof in Wash- ington county, Ga. ; she was well educated in her youth, being a graduate of the Monroe female college. She was one of a family of twelve chil- dren, all of whom became educated and accomplished. Her father repre- sented his county in the legislature for a number of years. She was married at the age of nineteen, and is the mother of three children, two of whom survive, Emma V., graduate of Shorter Female college of Rome, Ga .: George R., attending school at Fort Gaines, Ga. After the war Mr. Irwin resumed farming, and since then has continued to follow this calling. He now lives in a spacious and handsome mansion near Shorterville, surrounded by all the comforts of life. . He owns 1,400 acres of choice land, most of which is in a high satte of cultivation. He is a straightout democrat, and is known far and wide as one Henry county's substantial and reliable citizens. Notwithstanding the fact that he does not aspire to official honors he is strongly in favor of building up the material interests of a community, and is active in his support of church and school. He and his wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church.
W. J. JENKINS, one of Dothen's wealthy business men and speculators, was born in Henry county, Ala., February 21, 1851. He was a son of Wilson R. and Elizabeth (Daniels) Jenkins, the former of whom was born in South Carolina, and while young moved to Tallahassee, Fla., where he grew to manhood without education. In 1840 he settled in Henry county, Ala., where he engaged in farming, but subsequently lived an unsettled life, and in 1882 moved to Geneva county, where he died in July, 1887. Mrs. Jenkins was born in Alabama, came to Henry county while young, and there grew to womanhood and was married at the age of twenty. She is the mother of nine children, all of whom survive. She is a mnem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Our subject grew up on the farm, and without being able to read or write. Upon arriving at mature years he began for himself by working on a farm for wages. He was married when nineteen years old, and then engaged as a laborer in a saw mill, working one month. He then engaged to work for W. Car- roll on his farm in Dale county, remaining one year, then for Mr. Pilcher one year, and also for John W. Branch, one year. He had now accumulateà sufficient means to buy forty acres of timber land, which he proceeded to improve by building a house, clearing a few acres and put- ting in a small crop. At the end of four years from his marriage he had saved $400, and the year after purchasing his first forty acres he bought ninety acres more. This he improved, and at the end of ten years from his marriage he owned 700 acres of land. He continued to
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farm until 1881, when he sold out and moved to the present town of Do- then, then nothing but a cross roads with one small store. Here he pur chased 160 acres of land, and erected one of the best equipped mills in southeastern Alabama. This contained a grist mill, a gin and a saw mill, run by steam. At that time there were not more than sixty people within a mile from his mill in all directions, yet he went ahead, got things to running smoothly, and bought more land. After operating this mill for eighteen months it was destroyed by fire. Previous to its destruction it could have been sold for $2,500. He then built as team gin, and later a steam mill, and continued doing business until the town of Dothen started and the price of land began to advance. He then turned his attention to dealing in horses and mules and lands, and bought the first lot put on sale in Dothen, and also the second, and he built the first frame house in lower Henry county. The first lumber sawed in his mill was for a church and school house. The first land he procured at Dothen was that upon which the business part of the town is now loca- ted. He was married to Miss Cain August 21, 1870. She was a daughter of William Cain, and was brought up in Dale county. She was married in her twenty-second year, and became the mother of seven children: William L., at present a student of medicine at Atlanta, Ga .; Elizabeth, now in attendance at the Female college at Tuscaloosa, Ala .; Savannah, also at the same college; Marcellus, Arlevy, Adina, George W., at school in Dothen under Prof. Espy. The wife of our subject was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, continuing such until her death, which occurred March 28, 1883. Mr. Jenkins was married the second. time in 1883, to Miss Adeline Benefield, daughter of Jacob Benefield. She grew to womanhood in Henry county, having been born there July 20, 1861, and has no children. W. J. Jenkins has witnessed the entire growth of the town of Dothen. within the past ten years it has grown from a place of sixty-three inhabitants to one of more than 3,000 inhabit- ants. To this growth he has contributed in no small degree, especially to the upbuilding of churches and schools. He organized the first music class in Dothen, and brought the first organ to the town. He was a per- sistent worker for the introduction of the railroad, and is a stockholder in the company. He owns about 1,900 acres of land, beside numerous lots in the town of Dothen, and his income from his property is over $1,000 per year. He is giving his children a good education, of which he was himself deprived. Mr. Jenkins is in every sense a self-made man, and takes great interest in public affairs.
JEFFERSON S. KOONCE, one of the enterprising and progressive farm- ers of Henry county, was born in Alabama in 1832, near where he now resides. He was one of eight children born to John F. and Susan S. (Cawthorn) Koonce. His ancestors came from Germany at a very early day and settled in North Carolina, in which state Mr. John F. Koonce was born in 1801. He was the son of John and Mary (Fordham) Koonce. He
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came to Alabama in 1819, when he was eighteen years old, and when the Indians were his principal neighbors. He entered a large tract of land and became one of the pioneers of the county. He was married in 1827, and his death occurred in 1859. He lived in Henry county till his death, and did much to build up the county and to improve the methods of agri- culture which he saw in use here. His wife was a native of Georgia, and when she was ten years old was brought by her parents to Alabama. They settled near Columbia, in Henry county, in 1819, and lived there the rest of their days. She was married in her nineteenth year, and was the mother of eight children, seven of whom reached maturity, and three of whom are still living, Jefferson S., a brother and a sister. This sister is now the wife of Lafayette Teague, of Texas. Jefferson S. Koonce began life as a farmer's boy, attending the common schools of the county at such times as his services could be spared on the plantation. In 1859 he bought his father's old plantation, to which he has added from time to time until he now owns some 2,000 acres of land. He enlisted in company A, Sixth Alabama infantry, under Capt. A. C. Gordon, and served until the state of his health compelled him to resign. He then returned home and has followed agricultural pursuits ever since. In 1875 he was married to Miss Catherine E. Wood, daughter of W. H. Wood. She was born in Henry county in 1842, was well educated, and is now the mother of three children, viz .: Jefferson M., Susie M. and Bessie C., twins. Mr. Koonce has built a large and handsome residence near the corporate limits of Columbia, which is surrounded by trees, flowers and shrubs, and is a home in every way desirable. It is built upon a part of the land entered by his grandfather. He has 400 acres of land near his home, which he has farmed according to the latest principles of science, and has thereby increased its productiveness 100 per cent. during the last thirty years. Jefferson S. Koonce is a great reader, and has a very fine library filled with the best literature. Of this library he is justly proud. Politically he is a democrat, and he is in every sense of the word a public-spirited man. He has done much for the agricultural interest of the county. He was one of the originators of the new cotton mill just completed here, and is a member of the board of directors.
WILLIAM C. KOONCE, druggist of Columbia, Henry county, is one of the public-spirited and active business men of this county. He was born in Henry county in 1838, and is a brother of Hon. Jefferson S. Koonce, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work, as also does that of the father. Beginning life as a farmer's boy, he early took up the study of pharmacy, and became a registered druggist. After having been engaged in farming two years, he, in 1858, engaged in the drug business the next two years. In 1866, he opened a drug store in Abbeville, in connection with a stock of general merchandise. Both of these lines of business he conducted successfully until 1870, when he disposed of his merchandise, moved back to Columbia, and for the next eight years was engaged in
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farming. He then again established himself in the drug business, and has since been thus engaged. In 1871 he was married to Miss Claudia V. Goocher, daughter of William and Mary Goocher. William Goocher settled in Henry county in 1819, and was one of the pioneer and repre- sentative men of the county. The wife of W. C. Koonce was born in Alabama, in 1840. She was married at the age of thirty, and is the mother of five children, four of whom survive. viz .: Angerona, wife of Albert Williams, one of Henry county's prosperous young farmers, living near the city of Columbia; Daniel A., single, and living at home; William R., single, and also living at home; Miss Libbie, attending Columbla high school. In 1891, in connection with a number of others, Mr. Koonce organized a stock company for the purpose of erecting a cot- ton mill. This project was carried out, and a cotton mill of 2,000 spindles and with the very latest improvements, was erected, and is now in oper- ation in the city of Columbia. Mr. Koonce was one of the first to. encourage this enterprise, and is now one of the board of directors. He officiated as postmaster of the city of Columbia for a number of years, and is now one of the school trustees. He has served as one of the exec- utive committee for a number of years, and in other ways has been selected by his fellow-citizens to take charge of their public affairs. He owns several thousand acres of good land in Florida, Georgia and Ala- bama, as well as one of the best equipped drug stores in Columbia. He has a beautiful home, surrounded with everything that tends to make life. pleasant. In politics he is a democrat, and in manner cordial. In general, he is a good citizen, and enjoys the respect of all who know him.
Z. W. LANEY, SR. - Among the most enterprising and successful busi- ness men of Abbeville, Henry county, Ala., Z. W. Laney, Sr., stands con- spicuously in the front. He was born in North Carolina, January 29, 1829, and is the fourth in a family of eleven children born to Evan and Leah (Seccrist) Laney, natives of Mecklenburg county, that state, where they were married. In 1836, these parents migrated to Talbot county, Ga., where they resided until 1848, when they moved to Dale county, Ala., where they bought a very large tract of land, which the father put in cultivation, and lived upon until his death in 1863, at the age of sixty- seven years, his wife surviving until 1866, when she passed away at the age of seventy-one. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. Z. W. Laney, Sr., was reared on the home plantation, and educated at the common schools of Dale county. He was quite young when he was given permission to start out for himself to make his name and fortune. He was the possessor of a horse and gun, which he sold for $90, and devoted the proceeds for tuition in the high school at Louis- ville, Ala., in which he passed two terms. He then returned to Dale county, and taught two terms of country school, saving $300, and in 1857 took one more course in the high school, near the termination of which he met a gentleman who had a son in business in Abbeville and wanted a,
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clerk. A correspondence ensued, which resulted in Mr. Laney's securing the position, which he filled until 1861. He then taught in the public school of Abbeville until 1863, when he enlisted in the Confederate army, but was not allowed to serve on account of ill health. He therefore returned to his school. and taught until 1865. He had earned and saved at the commencement of the war about $4,000, which he invested in the best southern securities, but lost the whole of it. and the close of the war found him possessed of $2.50 in gold. But he was not discouraged, and, borrowing $250, he embarked in mercantile business, which he has suc- cessfully conducted to the present day. The marriage of Mr. Laney took place in 1860, to Miss Ann B. Culver, daughter of L. D. and Melvinia A. Culver. These parents were natives of Hancock county, Ga., whence they came in 1859 and settled in Lawrenceville, Henry county, Ala., where they purchased a large plantation. Here the mother died in 1890, at the advanced age of eighty-three years; the father still survives, and finds a very comfortable home with Mr. Laney. Mrs. Laney was born in Han- cock county, Ga., in November, 1840, and was married at the age of twenty years. She has borne her husband five children, of whom only two survive. The eldest, Pet, is married to William O. Long, a young business man of Abbeville, and also clerk of the court of chancery; they have three children: Lloyd, Daisy and J. B. The son of Mr. Laney, Z. W., Jr., married Miss Lula Trawick, and resides in Abbeville. Mr. Laney, Sr., is a member of Abbeville lodge, No. 91, A. F. & A. M., and is also a royal arch Mason; formerly he was an Odd Fellow. He is a straight out democrat, has been a notary public since 1863, and was recently elected a member of the town board, receiving every vote cast. He is a great fancier of the horse and the dog, and shoots the rifle with unerring aim. With his wife, he holds membership with the Missionary Baptist church.
GEORGE LESLIE, merchant of Gordon, Ala., and one of the enterpris- ing men of Henry county, was born in Jackson county, Fla., in 1859. He was one of a family of seven children born to Felix and Lena C. (Mabley) Leslie, the former of whom was born in Georgia, grew up in that state and then moved to Troup county, Fla., and there engaged in . farming. Some time afterward he removed to Jackson county, and fol- lowed farming till 1871, when he came to Alabama, settling in Henry county, where he engaged in the mercantile business at Gordon. He lived and died a believer in the doctrine of the Universalist church. The father of George Leslie was married three times: first in 1836 to Miss Almira Booth, by whom he had two children, one of whom, Thomas, sur- vives, and resides in Russell county, Ala., and who represented his county in the lower house of the legislature for one term. He was married the second time in 1840, to Miss Racilla Tatum, by whom he had four chil- dren, but one of whom now survives, Miss Kate, who resides with George Leslie; his third marriage occurred in 1850, to the mother of George
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Leslie, and by her be had seven children, two of whom now survive. He was thus the father of thirteen children, and had two sons in the late war. The mother of George Leslie was born at Auburn, Lee county, Ala., and lived there with her parents till they moved to Mobile, where she received her education. She was married in her twenty-second year. Early in life she became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and lived a consistent christian life until her death, which occurred in 1860. Up to his eleventh year George Leslie resided on the farm, and then for some time worked as a clerk in a store and attended the schools at Newton, Dale county, Ala. This was in 1879 and 1880. August 23, 1880, he entered the store of William Wood, as clerk, and served in this capacity till 1882, when he purchased a half interest in a general stock of merchandise. He owned a livery stable, which he managed in con- nection with his mercantile establishment. He also had interests in real estate. Thus he continued till 1883, when he purchased the other half of the stock of general merchandise and has continued in that line ever since. Besides his mercantile undertakings he is also largely interested in buying cotton, having invested in this staple, usually from $5, 000 to $6,000. He owns 5,000 acres of land, divided up into some twenty- five farms, covered in part with turpentine and lumber forests. He also owns considerable town property, including a very handsome residence, which he has just completed. He is the leading business man at Gordon, where he resides, and for which town he has done much in the building up of churches and schools, and all other enterprises intended to promote the moral and material prosperity of the place. He is highly respected by all who know him, and is one of the best citizens of the county. In politics he is a democrat, and in 1890 he was elected to the lower house of the legislature, and served one term. He was united in marriage with Miss Eddie D. Lewis, daughter of Capt. S. E. Lewis, of Ft. Gaines, Ga. She was born in Eufaula, Barbour county, Ala., but moved with her parents to Ft. Gaines, where she was educated. She also attended the female college of Cuthbert, Ga. She was married in her twentieth year. Both she and her husband are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south.
JAMES B. LONG, physician and surgeon of Abbeville, was born May 8, 1857, in Pike county, Ala., near Troy. He was the second in a family of five children born to James B. and Mary J. ( Oates ) Long. The former was a native of Pike county, Ala., and was a son of a pioneer of that state. His father moved from South Carolina, and settled on Richland creek, in Pike county. He owned a plantation, and was one of the founders of the old Bethel church, which still stands. The father of James B. Long was a planter, ond owned slaves. When the war broke out he enlisted in the Fifteenth Alabama infantry, commanded by Col. William C. Oates. He died of typhoid fever at Richmond, and was interred there. The mother of Mr. Long was born in Pike county, near the Conecuh river.
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She was the daughter of William and Sarah ( Sellers ) Oates. Her father was a native of South Carolina, but moved to Alabama and settled at Montgomery near where the capitol now stands. He then moved to Bullock county, now Pike county, and there married Miss Sarah Sellers. Her father died in 1871 at what was then called Oates's cross roads, now Catalpa. His widow died, May 29, 1892, being eighty-five years and one month old, at the home of her son, Col. William C. Oates, at Abbeville. The mother of Mr. Long, was married young. She is a member of the Mis- sionary Baptist church, and finds a comfortable home with her brother, Col. William C. Oates. She had four brothers and three sisters, the , eldest of whom is Col. Oates, now member of congress from the third Alabama district. The next was John A., who fell during the Civil war, pierced by eight bullets at the same time, and captured by the Yankees; he was kindly cared for by them until his death. Louisa, deceased; Melissa, widow of R. M. Hickman, resides at Headland; Amanda, wife of G. W. Linton, who resides at Gatesville, Texs; Thomas died in child- hood; James W., a prominent attorney of Santa Rosa, Cal., married to Miss Mattie Solomon of San Francisco, Cal. James B. Long began life as a farmer's boy, attended the common school for a time, and, in 1872, moved with his mother to Abbeville, and there attended the schools of Henry county. Subsequently he took a partial course in the university of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, terminating his schooling in 1877. He then turned his attention to farming and to merchandising, which he followed for a couple of years, when he attended the Medical college of Louisville, Ky., taking two courses. After a six months' sojourn at home, he returned to college, took the third course, and graduated February 22, 1882. He was married July 6, 1882, to Miss Annie J. Curry, only child of S. S. and Matilda ( Ward ) Curry. Mr. Curry was a prominent attorney of Henry county, and partner of James A. Clendenin. He was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines and died in 1862. His widow still survives, and finds a comfortable home with Mr. James B. Long. Mrs. Annie J. Long grew up in Abbeville, and had the best of school advantages. She was married in her twenty-first year, and is a member of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Long is a great admirer of fine horses. He is the . owner of the famous blooded horse, "Lord Alrick," which he purchased of Maj. Campbell Brown of Spring Hill, Ky. Beside this horse. the doctor owns others of great value, in which he takes pride. Dr. Long has one brother, a young attorney of Abbeville, William O., who is also register in chancery. The doctor has a large and steadily increasing practice, in the pursuit of which he takes both pleasure and pride. In politics he is a democrat, and is a public-spirited man, taking great interest in everything calculated to advance the material and moral character of the community.
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