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 44
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prince, had servants to respond to every call-operated extensive planta- tions, and was one of the wealthiest planters of Baldwin county, having the handsomest residence for miles around. It was erected by Col. Slaughter at a cost of $20,000. When the war came on in 1861, every- thing was changed. His beautiful mansion was burned, his negroes set free, and his lierds scattered to the four winds of heaven; his fences were torn down and burned and his fields laid waste, and he was, in fact, absolutely impoverished. Notwithstanding his heavy losses, Mr. Earle, when matters had quieted down, re-engaged in stock raising, having sold a few bales of cotton he had managed to save at $200 per bale, the pro- ceeds giving him a fair start, and once more began planting, the result being that he is once more a wealthy man. The marriage of Mr. Earle took place, in 1850, to Miss Mary McDonald, daughter of John McDonald, a lumber manufacturer on a large scale in Baldwin county. This lady was born in Baldwin county, was highly educated, was a society belle, and was married in her twenty-sixth year. She has two children, viz .: Frank, who is married to Mamie Daniels and has one child, also named Frank; and Mary, the wife of Thomas Bradley, a young planter of Baldwin county, and also the mother of one child- Ulmer. Mrs. Bradley is a member of the Methodist church. Francis Earle, the elder, has been lavish in his support of church and school, and is generous to a fault, as well as public spirited.
WILLIAM H. GASQUE, retired probate judge and business man of Bald- win county, and residing at Daphne, Ala., was born in the town of Saint Stephens, Washington county, December 6, 1811, but at the age of two years was taken by his parents to Monroe county, Ala., where he grew to manhood. In 1831, he settled in Baldwin county, where, in 1835, he was elected clerk of circuit court and clerk of county court, served four years, and then was re-elected; just before the expiration of his second term he was elected to the state legislature, and served through the term of 1842-3. In 1852 he was appointed as an assistant in the sheriff's office, and served until 1854, when he was appointed an assistant in the United States marshal's office at Mobile. In 1858 he was made mailing clerk at Mobile, which position he held until the close of the Civil war when, in the spring of 1865, he was appointed one of the revenue assessors of the port of Mobile, of which office he was relieved in 1868. In the fall of the same year he was appointed judge of probate of Baldwin county, and filled that office to the entire satisfaction of the citizens until November 3, 1892, when he retired to private life. During Mr. Gasque's twenty-four years' incumbency of the probate judgeship he witnessed many changes for the better in Baldwin county. When he took his seat the county was in debt $5,500, to which was to be added the liabilities of two successive defaulting sheriffs. The people of the county were poor, and during court term the jurors were compelled to use their certificates as collateral. This the judge resolved to obviate by borrowing $1,000 on his personal
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account and applying the amount to the relief of the more pressing wants of these indigent jurors. In 1888, a movement was made toward building a new court house, and through the strenuous exertions of the judge the project was carried out at an expense of $10,000. On the completion of the edifice, so much needed, the county found itself in debt to the amount of $2,800, and again the judge used his personal responsibility to secure the amount. The county is now, however, free from debt. While in office the judge was successful in securing many pensions for the sur- vivors of the war of 1812, and freely gave of his own means toward the building of church and school edifices and the maintenance of charitable institutions.
Judge Gasque is a son of Samuel and Mary (Godbold) Gasque. Samuel Gasque, of Huguenot descent, was born in Marion district, S. C. In 1810 he came to Alabama and passed two years at Saint Stephens in Washing- ton county, where he died in April, 1812. Mrs. Mary (Godbold). Gasque was also born in Marion district, S. C., was married in her nineteenth year, and bore Mr. Gasque two children. In 1815 she was joined in marriage with Silas Morgan, to whom she bore five children, and died in 1832. Judge Gasque has never married, and is the last survivor of his family. He is now eighty-two years of age, and although he has twice had the yellow fever and once had the confluent small-pox, he is well preserved and full of vigor, bearing the appearance of a man of fifty. He recalls many incidents of pioneer life and some of quite a thrilling char- acter. He was living at Saint Stephens when the Indian massacre at Fort Mims took place, in 1813, in which many settlers lost their lives and during which the parents of the judge were obliged to conceal themselves in the forest for several days and nights. Baldwin county has reached its present development under his eyes, and much of its advancement is due to his personal exertion. The judge was made a Mason in 1844, when he entered Mobile lodge, No. 40. He is a dyed-in-the-wool democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Andrew Jackson and his last for Grover Cleveland.
JOHN HADLEY, stock grower of South Baldwin county, with post-office at Swift, was born in Baldwin county, Ala., in 1820. He was early employed as a farm hand and while yet a young man rode United States express for nine years, under Ward Taylor, after which he gradually went into the stock business in company with his brother, and in that manner did business for a number of years. He took part in the late war, after which he continued to grow various kinds of stock. In 1882 he bought a section of land where he now lives (Section sixteen, township six, range four, east) and a tract of 160 acres laying on Blackwater river in southeast Baldwin county. He moved his family to this place shortly after purchasing and brought 1,400 head of sheep with him, and now owns a flock of 5,000 to 7,000. He also has a fine herd of 320 cattle. He raises hogs, cows and some horses, and also has a herd of
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tame deer, on his premises; he has a number of different wool- growing sheep, amongst which may be found the Merino, the Cotswold, the Southdown and the native sheep. Mr. Hadley was united in marriage September 15, 1848, to Miss Nellie Johnson, daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth Johnson. She was born in Georgia in 1820, and was young when brought to Baldwin county, Alabama, where she grew up, becoming proficient in all domestic pursuits of usefulness. She was married in her twenty-fifth year and became the mother of six children, all of whom are now deceased, born in the following order: Elizabeth, Thomas, Mary, John, Joseph, and Otis. John reached maturity and married Miss Sarah Cruit, whose four children were born in the fol- lowing order: J. Cruit, John T., Sarah E., and Joseph W., all of whom find a comfortable home with Mr. Hadley, their grandfather, and are also receiving a liberal education. Early in life the wife of Mr. Hadley united with the. Missionary Baptist church, and has lived a good and consistent life ever since. In coming to her present home she left many kind friends and church going people with whom she was loath to part. She is now in her seventy-third year, and enjoys comparatively good health. Mr. Hadley is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Kenelson) Hadley. Ben- jamin was a native of North Carolina and took part in the war of 1812. He was a farmer by occupation. He was married in North Carolina and emigrated south in 1818 and settled in Florida, which was later taken in as Baldwin county, Ala., and subsequently moved to north Baldwin county, near Montgomery Hill. He there bought a farm and became one of Baldwin county's progressive farmers and stock growers, and prominent as a whig. His death occurred in 1826. His father was killed by the tories in Revolutionary times. The mother of Mr. Hadley was a native of Mississippi, where she spent the early part of her life. She was mar- ried in her twenty-fifth year and was Mr. Hadley's second wife and had seven children, five boys and two girls, five of whom still survive. The mother's death occurred in 1822. John Hadley was thrown upon his own resources early in life and has made all that he now owns by careful investments and good management; his mode of life is primitive, yet he is surrounded by plenty and has everything to supply his few wants. His home is in the great sheep range of Alabama in the heart of the forest, with neighbors few and far between.
HENRY J. HUNT, planter and lumberman, of Tensaw, Baldwin county, Ala., was born in Georgia, November 27, 1827, and came to Alabama with his parents, who, in 1836, settled in Russell county, where the son grew to manhood. From Russell county the family moved to Chambers county, and thence to Randolph county, Ga., where Henry J. was married to Miss Mary A. Morris, daughter of James Morris, a planter. Mrs. Hunt was a native of Randolph county, was married in her sixteenth year, and became the mother of three children, viz .: Jane D., William H. and Mary A., all now deceased. Mrs. Hunt died in 1856, an earnest member of the Primi-
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tive Baptist church, and in 1857, Mr. Hunt married Miss Emma Ramie, daughter of Capt. Bryant Ramie, a planter of Stewart county, Ga., where the lady was born in 1841. To this union have been born eight children, as follows: Jane, wife of L. F. Warren, and mother of five children; Joe, who is with his parents; Lula A., married to Daniel O'Rourke, a business man, of Wallace, Ala .: Gussie, Emma, Fannie, Claude and May. Mr. Hunt reached Alabama with his family December J. 24, 1861, and for some years his attention was occupied with the affairs of war. He enlisted in the Alabama cavalry service under the command of Capt. English, and was chiefly employed in home guard duty until the close of hostilities. In 1865, he bought a tract of land containing 160 acres, put up a saw-mill, and began his career as a millman; in 1875, he bought the well improved Silver's place, and has been constantly employed at lumbering and farming to the present date. The parents of Henry J. Hunt were Daniel and Jane (Goldsmith) Hunt, who were the father and mother of ten children, Henry J. being the fifth in order of birth. Daniel Hunt was born in Butts county, Ga., in 1800, was a farmer, and was married in his native county. On coming to Alabama, he was elected sheriff of Russell county, later was elected tax collector and assessor and then appointed deputy sheriff. He passed the latter his part of life in the state of his nativity and died in 1866. His wife was born in Houston county, Ga., was married at the age of sixteen, and became the mother of ten children, of whom eight reached maturity and five are still living. Mrs. Jane Hunt passed away in 1863, an exemplary member of the Mis- sionary Baptist church. Of her ten children, three sons came to Alabama with Henry J., all of whom are now deceased, the last of the three dying in 1892. Henry J. Hunt still owns his original tract of 160 acres, to which he has added 3,000 more, mostly fine bottom land. He has a tasteful residence site near the Tensaw post-office, with fruits of all kinds in abundance, and is surrounded with everything tending to make life enjoy- able. He is a member of Tensaw lodge, No. 221, I. O. O. F., and, with his family, of the Missionary Baptist church, and is an honest and useful citizen.
T. G. MCGOWAN, county commissioner of Baldwin county and a respected planter, was born in 1832 in county Tyrone, Ireland. At the age of fifteen he sailed for America alone and landed in New Orleans May 5, 1847, whence he made his way to Mobile and started to attend school, but was interrupted by an attack of sickness, which compelled him to seek the hospitality of Judge Fitch, a short distance from the city; on becoming convalescent he made another attempt at learning, but had a relapse and relinquished the task. He then served a long time with a millwright, fully mastered the trade and moved to Stockton, Baldwin county, and started in business. In 1854 he engaged with Col. Aiken for a year as a millwright, and later built a mill for John Harris on Fair creek; continued millwrighting and building for a number of years; erected
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a mill on Watsau creek for Edward Robinson, and also doing work on McDonald's mill on Major creek. In 1854 he entered 80 acres of his present place, for which he paid 50 cents per acre and received in addi- tion 160 acres from the government, on which he has built a comfortable and commodious dwelling. In 1862 he sent a substitute to the Confed- ate service and later enlisted in the Fifteenth Alabama cavalry and served until the end of the troubles. On the return of peace he worked at his trade a year and then turned his attention to agriculture and stock growing, and in these he has met the success his energy and industry deserve. January 26, 1854, he married Miss Julia A. Mathis, a daughter of William Mathis, a native of Maine, who settled in Baldwin county about the year 1820, and here died in the autumn of 1829. Mrs. McGowan was born in Baldwin county, was married at the age of twenty- four and is now the mother of six children, viz .: Thomas, who married Miss Mary Tunstall, who has borne three children; Mary, George, Annie, Guy and Eugenie G. The parents of T. G. McGowan were James and Fannie McGowan. The father was a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, was a farmer and died in his native country in 1839; the mother was born in the city of Dublin, the daughter of William McGowan, an attorney-at- law. She was married in her twentieth year, became the mother of five children, of whom T. G. McGowan is the sole survivor, and died about 1847, a faithful adherent of the Presbyterian church, both she and her husband being of Scotch-Irish parentage. Mr. T. G. McGowan has fully met the reward of his intelligence and industry, and is now the owner of 3,500 acres of land well improved with a commodious dwelling, in which is kept the post office known as Latham's, of which Miss Mary is the post- mistress. In 1892 Mr. McGowan was elected county commissioner and has faithfully performed the duties of that office down to the present time. The family affiliate with the Methodist church and enjoy the respect of all who know them. T. G. McGowan is local preacher of the Methodist church.
RICHARD H. MOORE, planter and stockraiser, of Baldwin county, was born at Claiborne, Monroe county, Ala., March 17, 1835, a son of Richard S. and Mary F. (Davis) Moore. Richard S. was a native of South Carolina and was brought to Alabama when a boy by his parents, who located in Monroe county. In 1830 he moved to Baldwin county, and in 1832 was there married. He became a substantial planter, owned much negro property, was popular and influential and was a sound democrat. In 1848 he was elected to the state legislature and served two terms, 1840-1843. His death occurred in 1854, from yellow fever. Mrs. Mary F. was also born in South Carolina, but was a little girl when brought to Alabama by her parents, who settled in Baldwin county. She was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church, was married at eighteen years of age, and died in 1852. Richard H. Moore grew up on his father's plantation and took an active interest in the management of the place as he advanced
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in years, but, being still young when his father died, made a temporary home with his maternal grandfather, Harry Davis, who was one of the pioneers of Baldwin county, and died, in 1862, at the ripe age of eighty- nine years. Richard H., however, was not more than eighteen when he began planting on his own account, and to planting he added stockrais- ing. In 1858 he married Miss Carrie Earle, only child of John Earle, a pioneer planter of Baldwin county, and a soldier of the Creek war. and whose death occurred in 1865. Mrs. Carrie Moore was born in Baldwin county, was educated at the Female college of Summerfield, Ala., and was married in her eighteenth year. She has borne her husband four child- ren, in the following order: Duke G., born September 10, 1860, and mar- ried to Anna Starke; Mary L., born in February, 1862, and now the wife of John Davis; Carrie A., born in February, 1865; Theodore S., born in September, 1870, married to Miss Annette Watts. After peace had been restored he resumed planting and stockraising, and subsequently engaged in the manufacture of naval stores and timber, but has since sold his tur- pentine still. He erected his fine residence in 1876 and surrounded it with good fencing and comfortable out-buildings for horses and kine, and has embellished his grounds with flowers, vines and fruit trees. Mr. Moore is a democrat, and in 1890 was elected to the general assembly, and for two terms has proved to be worthy of his constituency. He was made a Mason in 1856, just as he became of age to become eligible. Always enter- prising, he was the prime mover in organizing the Dixie Mill company in 1889, but has since disposed of his interest therein. He has done much in aid of school and church and is never backward in work of a charita- ble nature or for the public good. He is fond of his dog and gun and is one of the most noted huntsmen of Baldwin county. His lands comprise between 5,000 and 6,000 acres, much of it being rich river bottom land. He and family affiliate with the Methodist Episcopal church, and they all enjoy the full respect of Baldwin county's citizens.
SAMUEL K. REYNOLDS, physician and surgeon of Battles, Baldwin county, Ala., and resident physician of Hotel Grand, Point Clear, in the same county, was born in Philadelphia in 1836. He received a thorough literary education in his native city and then began the study of medicine under Prof. Mutter, of Jefferson Medical college, and after an attendance of six years graduated, in 1857, with first honors. The year following he was engaged in private practice, and then engaged on a line of merchant vessels as surgeon-passing six months in Europe. In 1859 he came to Alabama and practiced at Livingston, Sumter county, until the spring of 1860, when he located in Mobile, conducting private practice until the opening of the Civil war, when he was placed in charge of all the Catholic institutions of the city as medical director, and until the close of hostilities rendered very efficient service. He then resumed his private practice in Mobile and so continued until 1889. He next located at his summer residence in Battles, where he has since continued L
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profession, in conjunction with his position as resident physician at the Hotel Grand. He is recognized as one of the most experienced and skill- ful practitioners in the county, and stands equally high socially and professionally. The doctor was married in 1861 to Miss Irma Amelia Herpin, daughter of John B. Herpin, a prominent dry goods merchant of Mobile. Mrs. Reynolds was born in 1838, enjoyed excellent educational advantages, and graduated from the convent of the Visitation. She has borne her husband one child, now deceased. The doctor is himself the third of seven children born to John and Marion W. (Stuart) Reynolds. The early days of the father were passed in his native Ireland as clerk for a mercantile house, but he was yet young when he came to America and settled in Philadelphia, where he became one of that staid city's most prosperous merchants and where he was summoned to his final rest in 1858. He was a Free Mason and in religion was a Presbyterian. Mrs. Marion W. Reynolds was a native of Philadelphia, was highly educated, and was married in the eighteenth year of her age. She became the mother of seven children, all of whom reached maturity, but of whom two now survive-the doctor and his sister, now Mrs. Joseph M. Pile, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Reynolds was of Scottish parentage, was also a member of the Presbyterian church, and died in its faith in 1871. Dr. S.K. Reynolds and wife have been identified with many charitable works at Mobile, and their generosity is not at all stinted at their present place of residence. Both are devout members of the Roman Catholic church, and stand very high socially.
WILLIAM L. SCHIEFFELIN .- Among the most useful of the citizens of Baldwin county, Ala., William L. Schieffelin stands foremost. A native of the county, born July 23, 1852, he has ever had its interest at heart. He received an excellent academic education at Mobile, having graduated from Barton's academy in 1869. In 1871, he went to Adams county, Ill., and engaged in business until the latter part of 1873, when he returned to Mobile and secured a large and complete stock of general merchan- dise, with which he opened a store at Daphne, Baldwin county, and this: business he conducted with unwavering success until 1889, when he dis- posed of it and turned his attention to other pursuits. During the interim, in 1884, he had been appointed to the responsible position of tax assessor of Baldwin county, held the office four years, and was then elected by the democratic party to the same office, which he held until the expira- tion of his term in 1892, giving during his entire incumbency the utmost satisfaction to the community. In 1875 he was joined in matrimony with Miss Alice Copley, daughter of M. S. Copley, a worthy citizen and tal- ented newspaper man of Mobile. This lady was born in Carrollton, Pickens county, Ala., but at an early age was taken by her parents to Mobile, where she was reared and where she enjoyed excellent educational advantages at Barton academy. She was married in her eighteenth year, and is now the mother of eight children, born in the following order :.
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George B., October 27, 1876; William O., September 4, 1878; Cornelia A., July 18, 1880; Claude H., June 23, 1882; Lillian A., March 9, 1885 Mark C., March 21, 1887; Claribel, May 29, 1889, and Maud W., August 4, 1891. The mother of Mrs. Alice Schieffelin bore the maiden name of Augusta A. Waddle and was born in North Carolina in 1836; she was mar- ried in her native state in her fifteenth year, bore her husband nine chil- dren, of whom six are still living; she is a communicant of the Episcopal church and is greatly respected. The parents of William L. Schieffelin were George A. F. and Cornelia J. (Starke) Schieffelin. George A. F. was a native of New York, but at an early age ran away to sea, and during his service on ship board learned sailmaking. Eventually land- ing at Mobile he opened a sail-loft and for many years followed sailmaking as a vocation, subsequently turnng his attention to other pursuits. He was married in Mobile and became the father of five children. His death occurred in 1871, he being a member of the I. O. O. F., at the time, having joined the order many years previously. Mrs. Cornelia J. (Starke) Schieffelin was born in Baldwin county, Ala., and was eighteen years of age when married. She became a member of the Episcopal church early in life, and now makes her home with her son, William L. This gentle- man owns and occupies a beautiful home of many rooms and wide, cool verandas, overlooking the placid waters of the beautiful Mobile bay, located at Daphne, surrounded by scenery well calculated to soothe the weary and please the eye of the most fanciful. Here the giant live oaks , with somber drapery of Spanish moss, flourish in profusion, also the orange tree, with its golden fruit-laden branches, forming a most cool shade. His garden is prolific with the pear, peach and plum, also grapes of many kinds. He owns property, both business and residence, in Daphne, and is considered one of Baldwin's progressive representative men.
SPENCER SHARP, the well known horticulturist of Montrose, Baldwin county, Ala., was born in Wood county, Va., October 23, 1809, and is a. son of Spencer and Ann (Arnold) Sharp. The father was also a native of Wood county, born February 13, 1762, was reared a farmer in the Blue Ridge mountains, and in the latter part of the Revolutionary war was old enough to take an active part, and was present at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He was married in his thirty-first year, continued to farm in the Blue Ridge until within a few years of his death, when he moved to Ohio, where he passed from earth in 1851, noted for his up- right life and honest methods in his business transactions. Mrs. Ann (Arnold) Sharp was born in eastern Virginia, September 22, 1772, was married when twenty one years of age, and became the mother of eleven children, all of whom reached maturity. All are now deceased, save Spencer Sharp, whose name heads this sketch, and one daughter. The mother died in 1816. It will be seen that the parents were born the sub- jects of King George III., and that the father was old enough for com-
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