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 54
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
Mrs. Tullis was born and reared in Barbour county, and is a lady of many noble qualities of mind and heart.
HAMILTON M. WEEDON, M. D., was born in Tallahassee, Fla., May 15, 1835. His grandfather was a Virginian by birth, and held a high rank in the army which fought for our independence. His father, Dr. Frederick Weedon, was born in Virginia, October 18, 1784, studied medicine under Dr. Buchanan, of Philadelphia, and completed his medical education in Europe. He practiced his profession several years in Baltimore, and served in the army during the war of 1812, as lieutenant-colonel. About the year 1816, he moved to Huntsville, Ala., and there was married, shortly after, to Mary Wells Thompson. daughter of a wealthy planter, who lived near that place. About the year 1827, he moved to Florida, spent some time in Tallahassee, but moved to St. Augustine in 1835, where he became much interested in fruit culture. This move to Florida was made on account of his wife, whose health became feeble, and seemed to require a warmer climate. She died in St. Augustine, in 1849, and in 1854, he moved to the Dry Tortugas, to spend the remainder of his days with his daughter, Mrs. Henrietta Whitehurst, whose husband, Dr. D. W. Whitehurst, was surgeon of the post. He died there in March, 1857. On the breaking out of the Seminole war, in 1836, he raised a company and entered the service as captain, but soon after resigned to enter the medical corps as surgeon, and was stationed in St. Augustine, when the the celebrated Indian chief, Osceola, was brought there a captive, and confined in Fort Marion. In this case, as in many others similar, a friend- ship, bordering on affection, sprang up between the doctor and the famous captive. The Indian's health gave way under the influence of sorrow, disappointment and confinement, and the authorities thought it best to send him to Fort Moultrie, Charleston harbor; at his urgent request, Dr. Weedon was detached from the army of Florida, and sent with him. He died shortly after he arrived at Fort Moultrie, but just before his death, he gave to his friend, the doctor, his clothes, pipe, ear-rings and other trinkets. Of ten children born to Dr. Frederick and Mary Weedon, Dr. Hamilton M. Weedon was the youngest, oxcept one who died in infancy. He was taken from Tallahassee to St. Augustine when but six weeks old, and lived there until he was about eighteen years old, when he went to Albany, N. Y., and entered the office of Dr. James H. Armesby, professor of anatomy in the medical college of that city. He received the degree of doctor of medicine in 1855, and was appointed resident surgeon of the city hospital. and, on his retirement, in 1857, received a most compliment- ary letter from the board of directors, for "able, faithful and efficient service." He also spent one year as surgeon to the city dispensary in Albany, a place where the poor people are treated free of any cost what- ever. In 1857, he was spending some time on the Dry Tortugas in search of health and strength, both of which had run down to minimum, when news was brought that yellow fever had broken out in Key West, and that
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the physicians of that place were particularly unfortunate, as the wives of the only two available physicians had died of it, and one of the physi- cians lay at the point of death; he therefore determined to go to Key West at once, and offer his services to that stricken people, though he had never had the disease nor had he ever been exposed to it. He escaped without having much of an attack, if he had it at all, though he was almost constantly in the fever hospital and on board some affected ship. He served in the United States marine hospital, and as health officer of the port, for several years. On the breaking out of the war between the war between the states, impelled by a sense of duty to his state, he resigned his office of port physician, which was a lucrative one, went to Tallahassee and entered, as a private, in an artillery company, of which Robert Gambell was captain. Soon after, he was made assistant surgeon of the Fourth Florida regiment, and in about sixty days after was made full surgeon. He served through nearly all of the campaigns of the west under Bragg add Johnston. Just before the battle of Murfreesboro, he became Gen. William Preston's brigade surgeon. Shortly after the battle of Chickamauga, he became chief surgeon of Gen. Breckinringe's division, on the retirement of chief surgeon, J. F. Heustis. On the retirement of Gen. Breckinridge, Maj-Gen. William B. Bate took command of the division, and he served with him as chief surgeon of division until just before the fall of Atlanta, when he was relieved from field duty and sent to post duty at Eufala, Ala., in July, 1865. Just before the surrender of Lee, and when Gen. Joseph Johnston's army was in North Carolina, he was ordered to rejoin that army, but the collapse came before he reached it. He was paroled at Macon, Ga., and returned at once to Key West, and re-entered the practice of medicine with a view to make some money, which was necessary in order to fulfill an engagement of marriage which he had made when stationed in Eufaula. In the latter part of the year 1865, he returned to Eufaula and married Mary Elizabeth Christin Young, second daughter of E. B. Young, a merchant of Eufaula. He retired from active practice a number of years ago, and associated himself with Mr. George H. Dent in the drug business, under the firm name of Weedon & Dent. His wife died in 1891. They had eight children; two died in infancy; six are now living. Of the two girls, one married J. R. Barr, a shoe merchant, and the other, J. L. Ross, a hardware merchant, both of Eufaula. Dr. H. M. Weedon, Jr., the eldest son, graduated in medicine in Mobile, and is now in in New York pursuing his studies at the Polyclinic; Edward B. Weedon, second son, is a clerk in a drug store; Walter R. Weedon, third son, is a student of medicine, and Herbert G. Weedon is a school boy, thirteen years old.
C. B. WELLBORN, son of Solon A. and Frances W. Wellborn, was born in Barbour county, Ala., November 29, 1842. He was educated in the common schools, and in January, 1861, entered the First Alabama volun- teer infantry as member of company A, with which he served twelve
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months, his first battle being at Pensacola, Fla., where he was under fire during the bombardment of that city. He subsequently enlisted for three years in Reeve's battalion, Hilliard's legion, and was assigned to duty in the western army, and during his period of service took part in the battle of Chickamauga, and the Atlanta campaign, receiving a painful wound by a
piece of exploded shell in the engagement near Atlanta. For some time after receiving the injury, Mr. Wellborn was absent from his company, at home. but when sufficiently recovered he rejoined his regiment at Corinth,
1 Miss., and after Hood's retreat from Nashville, was not engaged in any battle of note. He surrendered at Augusta, Ga., at the close of the war, and returning home engaged in farming, which he still carries on. In 1881, he embarked in the mercantile business and is now proprietor of a fine store valued at $6,000, with a yearly business representing an aggregate of from $20,000 to $25,000. His plantation is a well improved place of 364 acres and his residence is a large, spacious structure, comfortably fur nished, and presents the appearance of being a typical home of a well bred southern gentleman. Mr. Wellborn is a business man of fine abili- ties and a gentleman who commands, in a marked degree, the respect and confidence of a large circle of friends and acquaintances in Barbour and other counties. A democrat in politics he has never been a partisan nor sought official honors, but always attends the conventions of his party in Barbour county and takes no little interest in their proceedings. In addi- tion to his farming and mercantile interests he operates a steam grist mill and gin, the latter having a capacity of from 400 to 500 bales. Mr. Wellborn was married in May, 1872, to Elsie C., daughter of Edward and Mary Garland, and is the father of one child, Eula C., a young lady of nineteen. Solon A. Wellborn, the subject's father, was a native of Wilkes county, Ga., born in the year 1820. He came to Alabama as a soldier in the Indian war of 1836, and being pleased with the country decided to make it his home; accordingly he settled in Barbour county, where, in 1841, he married Miss Frances W. Nelson. He first lived on a plantation near Cochran Station, but afterward moved to Eufaula, where for some years he clerked for a mercantile firm; and subsequently, in 1854, engaged in business for himself, which he carried on till 1859. During the war he served in Kolb's battery, enlisting in 1863, and after a limited period in the army of Tennessee, was appointed to a position in the quartermaster's department. After the war he was bookkeeper for a dry goods house in Eufaula for some years, and died in October, 1888. The following child- ren constituted the family of Solon and Frances Wellborn, namely: C. B .; R. W., member of company K, Fifteenth Alabama infantry, killed at bat- tle of Shiloh; S. N. ; A. J., died in 1886, and W. F.
HON. JERE. N. WILLIAMS needs no introduction to the people of Bar- bour county and southern Alabama. Mr. Williams was born in Bar- bour county, May 29, 1829, and is the son of Judge S. and Effie Williams, natives respectively of Georgia and North Carolina. He
JERE. N. WILLIAMS.
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received a liberal education in the college of South Carolina, at Columbia, completing the literary course in 1852, and in 1854, began the study of law in the office of Rice & Belser, Montgomery, Ala. He supplemented his course of private instruction under those gen- tleman by a term at a school of law at. Tuskegee, Ala., and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1855, in the supreme court at Montgomery, and has ever since practiced his profession with distinguished success. In Jan- uary, 1861, he enlisted in the First regiment, Alabama volunteer infan- try, of which in a short time thereafter he was elected major; but owing to failing health was compelled. after serving a year, to retire from mili- tary life. In 1870 he was one of the candidates for the legislature from Barbour county and served as a member of the noted "democratic legis- lative body" which met at Montgomery the same year, in which the "republican assembly" proved triumphant. Mr. Williams was elected a member of the national congress from that district in 1874, being the first successful democratic candidate since the war, and in 1876 was re- elected, and served with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constit- uency until 1878. While a member of congress, Mr. Williams was one of the few democrats who voted in opposition to the electoral commis- sion, and he also served on a number of important committees, and bore an active part in the deliberations of the body. During his first term but little was accomplished in the way of needed legislation, owing to the bitter party spirit then rife, the house being democratic and the senate republican. Since the expiration of his congressional term, Mr. Williams has been actively engaged in the practice of the legal profes- sion at Clayton, and his business is quite large in Barbour county and also other counties in the southern part of the state. Endowed with an ardent love of his profession and with talents peculiarly fitting him for its higher practice, Mr. Williams has been fortunate in having had ample opportunity for improving and cultivating his abilities, and his long and successful experience in the courts of Barbour county has made him a leader among the most prominent in the legal profession in southern Alabama. Jere. N. Williams has an established reputation as one of the finest speakers at the bar of his state, as well as on the hustings. In- deed, one of the most prominent men of his section recently remarked of him. in a public speech, that "he is one of the best stump speakers in the state of Alabama." This natural gift has no doubt been one of the prime factors of his success in his profession, aided by a logical mind that gives power to his language in debate. In 1893, he was appointed chan- cellor, which position he now holds. Mr. Williams was married Decem- ber, 1864, to Mary E. Screws, who has borne him the following children : Victoria, wife of Dr. W. F. Wilkinson; Effie, wife of W. A. Leland; Mary N .; Judge S., graduate of Alabama university, and Nellie R. Mr. Will- iams' parents, Judge S., and Effie (McNeill) Williams, were married in Barbour county in the year 1826, and reared a family of five children,
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
namely . William, a physician, died in 1855; Jere. N .; John, deceased; Mrs. Emily Flournoy, deceased; Richard, deceased, lieutenant and cap- tain of company K, First Alabama regiment, who won great distinction in different battles, especially at Port Hudson; and Victoria, wife of J. C. McEachern. The Williams family came to Alabama in the year 1825, and the McNeills moved here from North Carolina as early as 1822.
J. J. S. WILLIS, prominent stock dealer and merchant of Barbour county, is a native of Mississippi, born near the town of Columbus, that state, on the 25th of March. 1847. His father, Asa Willis, son of Joel Willis, was born in Upshur county, Ga., in 1818, and shortly after birth was brought to what is now Barbour county, Ala., the family settling in the wilderness, several years before the Indians were removed from the state. Asa Willis took part in the Indian troubles of 1836, and was a resi- dent of Barobur county until 1872, at which time he changed his resi- dence to Dale county, where he died the following year. His wife, whom he married about the year 1839, was Mary Stafford, whose parents moved to what is now the county of Barbour as early, perhaps, as
1819 or 1820. Her father, James Stafford, built one of the first mills in the county on Stafford creek, named for the family, and is remembered as a very energetic and intelligent pioneer. Asa and Mary Stafford spent the greater part of their married life in Barbour county, and became the parents of six children, as follows: Samantha E., wife of L. B. Pickett; Sarah J., wife of J. W. Channell; Seymour E., wife of W. L. Draper; J. J. S., and Robert S. The mother, after a long and useful life, was laid to rest in Mt. Vernon, Tex., in December, 1890. The subject of this sketch has been a resident of Barbour county since early boyhood and has borne no inconsiderable part toward advancing the material interests of the country. Like hundreds of his fellow-citizens, in the gloomy war period it was his lot to assist in the defense of the southern cause, and from October, 1863, till May, 1865, he was a member of Terrell's light artillery, which did effective service in the Georgia campaign. This company was stationed at Savannah until Sherman's advance caused the evacuation of that city, at which time it joined the retreat through the Carolinas and surrendered at the city of Greensboro, N. C. Leaving the army, Mr. Willis returned home in May, 1865, and at once engaged in agriculture, in which he has ever since been interested, the greater part of the time in Barbour county, but for seven years in middle Arkansas, to which state he removed in 1870. Since that year he has been largely engaged in farming and stock-rais- ing, and for a number of years has been proprietor of a dry goods house at Mt. Andrew, where he carries a general stock of merchandise valued at $3,500. His farming lands, which are very fine, aggregate about 809 acres, and his stock business at this time a capital of $2,500. Mr. Willis has been prominent in the political affairs of the county, and for a num- ber of years served as justice of the peace. In 1880, he was elected to
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the office of tax collector, a position he now holds. September 3. 1868, he was united in marriage to Frances A. J. Smith, of Warren county, Ga., daughter of Jeremiah and Lucinda Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Willis are the parents of six children, namely: Augusta E., wife of Chalmers Gaclet; Laura M., wife of Jonathan L. Brown; Alice E .; Seymour, deceased; Robert, Asa and Stafford Smith. Mr. Willis is prominent in Masonic circles, being a royal arch Mason. He also belongs to the K. of H fra- ternity, and for some years has been a deacon in the Baptist church.
JOHN J. WILSON, a thrifty and enterprising planter, was born in Bar- bour county, Ala., October 12, 1843, the son of David and Nancy (Baker) Wilson, of Scotch-Irish and English lineage respectively. Mr. Wilson's paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of North Carolina, in which state his grandfather, John Wilson, lived and died. David Wilson was born in the same state about the year 1808, and is remembered as a man of excellent reputation, of deep religous convictions, and for years a leader in the Methodist church. While a young man he went to Marion county, Ga., where his marriage was consummated in 1834, and shortly after changed his residence to Barbour county, Ala., settling in the neighborhood where his son now resides. He died in January, 1863, and his widow departed this life in 1877. Mrs. Wilson was born in Orange district, S. C., where her father's family had been for many years, and was the daughter of James Baker. Seven children were born to David and Nancy Wilson, namely: Charles, deceased; Elizabeth, resides at the old home place; Emeline; John J .; Nancy, wife of Marion Blann; David A., and William N. John J. Wilson was educated in the common schools and was preparing to enter college when the war broke out. In the spring of 1862, he enlisted in company B, Thirty-ninth Alabama in- . fantry, and his military experience embraced the trying period from Murfreesboro, Tenn., to the surrender at Greensboro, N. C., in 1865. He took part in the battle of Chickamauga, where he was wounded in the hand, which necessitated an absence from the ranks of sixty days, and subsequently fought at Dalton; took part in the bloody campaign around Atlanta, and was with Hood's army in the battles of Franklin and Nash- ville. After the surrender he retuned to Barbour county, where he has since followed the pursuit of agriculture with success and financial profit. He owns a plantation of 570 acres, runs five plows and conducts his farm- ing operations upon the latest and most approved methods. He was mar- ried January 8, 1868, to Cynthia Johnston, daughter of James Johnston, an old settler of Barbour county, who was killed in the late war near Atlanta. The issue of this marriage has been nine children, six of whom are now living, namely: James D., Mary I., Margaret E., Oscar C., Harriet C., and Nancy C. Mr. Wilson is a friend and promoter of all edu- cational movements and takes great interest in the intellectual culture of his children. He and family are members of the Methodist church, and
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as a democrat he has taken an active interest in the deliberations of his party in Barbour county.
DR. JAMES J. WINN .- Among the prominent medical men of southern Alabama, Dr. James Winn has but few rivals and certainly no superiors in Barbour county, where his eminent abilities long since placed him at the head of the profession, a distinction he still enjoys. Dr. Winn is descended from Revolutionary stock, both his grandfather and great-grand- father on the paternal side having served with gallantry throughout the seven years' struggle for American independence. At one time they were both captured and condemned to suffer death by hanging, but were rescued just as the nooses had been placed around their necks at the place of execution. James J. Winn, father of the doctor, was an native of South Carolina, born at the town of Winnsborough, in 1804. He was the son of Maj. John Winn, of Revolutionary fame, whose ancestors came - to America from Wales. James J. Winn married Miss C. M. Johnson of DeKalb county, Ga., and became the father of seven children, the eldest of whom, L. J., for some years a well known lawyer of Atlanta, Ga., is deceased; the other members of the family are as follows: Mary E., widow of B. F. Caffee; Dr. James J., Prof. P. P. Winn, president of Female college at Talladega, Ala .; Rev. S. K. Winn, Presbyterian minis- ter at Petersburg, Va .; Katy L., wife of William Kirkpatrick and Marie L., wife of G. B. Scott, residing at Decatur, Ga. This family were mostly raised in DeKalb county. Ga., where the father died on the 16th of April, 1892; and the mother is still living at a good old age. Dr. James J. Winn was born in Monroe county, Ga., June 9, 1842, and enjoyed the advantage of an academic education. He began the study of medicine under the tutorship of Dr. N. S. Liddell and afterward en- tered the Atlanta Medical college, where he made such rapid and thor- ouugh progress in his studies that he was graduated in the class of 1860, at the remarkably early age of seventeen and a half years-a record un- precedented in the history of that or, perhaps, any other institution in the United States. Receiving his degree, the doctor at once located for the practice of his chosen calling at Clayton, but six months later en- listed in what was known as the "Barbour Grays," a military company which went to Virginia as a part of the Fifth Alabama volunteers, in which he served as a private for twelve months. He then successfully passed an examination for the position of assistant surgeon, and receiv- ing his commission was assigned to duty as acting surgeon of the Forty- fifth Georgia volunteers, and at the end of three months, upon petition of the regimental officers, was promoted to full surgeon and put perma- nently in charge of the regiment. He remained with the regiment until the surrender at Appomattox, and at the close of the war returned to Clayton, where he has since been actively engaged in the practice of his profession. Dr. Winn is a physician of reputation and his professional experience presents a series of successes such as few medical men suc-
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ceed in attaining. That he possessed much more than ordinary skill is attested by the fact that of his having been made surgeon of a regiment before reaching his majority, and that, too, after a rigid and impartial examination and not by a system of favoritism which placed so many incompetent members of the profession in responsible positions during the war. He is also a leader in all enterprises for the benefit of the city, and the public enterprises of Clayton have ever found him a friend and liberal promoter. In 1888, he was instrumental in organizing the Clay- ton Banking company, of which he became president, a position still filled by him, and for a period of twelve years has been the popular and effi- cient mayor of the city. He is also president of the Clayton Improve- ment company, and in addition to his professional and official duties has
large farming interests in Barbour county. In politics the doctor is, and always has been, a democrat; fraternally, he is a member of the Presbyterian church. The doctor was married in June, 1868, to Mary V. Crews, daughter of W. B. Crews, a union blessed with the birth of ten children, five sons and five daughters, namely: Mamie C., principal of Female academy, Clayton; Guy W., law student; Pauline L., attending college at Decatur; Lochlan M., now at Washington and Lee university, Va .; James J .; Nannie; Condie K .; Samuel R., deceased, Minnie and Hattie.
E. B. YOUNG, SR .- The name of this gentleman is inseparably con- nected with the growth and prosperity of the beautiful city of Eufaula. For forty-three years his hand was ever ready in advancing her interests financially and socially, and his death was mourned by the entire com- munity as a personal loss. E. B. Young was the son of James and Christina (Ridabock) Young, and was born and raised in New York city, as was his father before him. The date of his birth was the 24th of August, 1802. At the age of seventeen, in company with a brother, W. H. Young, now living in Columbus, Ga., he began a mercantile business in Marion, Ga. This was continued until 1836, when the brothers sepa- rated, E. B. locating in Irwinton, the present city of Eufaula. Entering the mercantile business here, he soon became a leading dealer and con- tinued in the business until 1861. In 1859 he had organized the private banking house of Young, Woods & Gardner, of which institution, under various firm names, he was president until 1876. In that year a stock company was formed and the Eufaula National bank organized, with Mr. Young as its president. This office he continued to hold till his death, which occurred May 22, 1879. Mr. Young was a public-spirited man and was foremost in every movement that looked toward the advancement of Eufaula. When the Southwestern railroad was being agitated he can- vassed the county personally and secured over $300,000 in subscriptions and stock. The establishment of the Union Female college was also a work that called forth his most earnest efforts. In a communication to the Columbus Enquirer-Sun, by a friend, touching his character, is the
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