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 65
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made man and wife, and their union has resulted in the birth of four children, as follows: William L., Edna R., Fannie M., and Gertrude.
JOHN G. LITTLE is a representative gentleman of the old school and for over half a century has been an honored citizen of Butler county. His father, Amos Little, a farmer by occupation, was born in Union dis- trict, S. C., in the year 1801, and came to Butler county, Ala., in 1820, settling near the town of Ridgeville, where he lived till 1855. He then changed his residence to Conecuh county, where his death occurred in 1879. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Hayes, accompanied her husband to Alabama, and departed this life in Conecuh county in the year 1861. John G. Little was born near the town of Ridgeville, Butler county, December 3, 1825, and grew to manhood on a farm, receiv- ing in such schools as the country at that time afforded but limited edu- cational adavntages. He remained with his parents until 1846, in which year he engaged as overseer with Col. Estey of Mississippi, in whose employ he remained eighteen months, after which he did service at inter- vals for W. H. Crenshaw, Esq., a prominent planter of southern Ala- bama. Husbanding his earnings, he subsequently invested them in lands near Cedar, Butler county, but for sometime acted in the capacity of over- seer for Thomas Crenshaw, and during the war raised provisions for the army in the county of Lowndes. For five years following the war Mr. Little was engaged in the pursuit of agriculture, and then gave up the farm and moved to the town of Monterey, which he made his home for a period of fifteen years. In 1888, he removed to Greenville, where he has since resided in peaceful retirement from active life. Mr. Little was married, December 16, 1853, to Sophronia E. Howell, who died January 10, 1892. She was a most estimable lady and bore her husband five children: Teresa, wife of Dr. Garrett; Susan, wife of William Stewart; J. B., a graduate of the university of Alabama, and for three years pro- fessor of chemistry in that institution; Charles L., also a graduate of the state university, and Anna B., a graduate of the A. C. F. college, Tuscaloosa. Mr. Little has been a prominent factor in the local politics of Butler county, and as a democrat has at different times represented his party as a delegate to state conventions. He is an earnest worker in the cause of temperance, and it was through his efforts that a bill was passed by the general assembly making it unlawful to vend intoxicating . liquors of any kind within five miles of the town of Monterey. In matters educational he has likewise been deeply interested, and, appreciating the value of training, of which he in youth was deprived, has given all his children the benefits of full courses in the best colleges and universi- ties of the state. Having begun life as a poor boy, with but a limited education, Mr. Little, by his own exertion, has not only become a well- to-do citizen and large property holder, but has also advanced the ma- terial interests and added to the wealth of his county. He is a consist- ent member of the Baptist church, in which he holds the office of deacon.
B. B. MCKENZIE.
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BETHUNE B. MCKENZIE .- The great-grandfather of the subject of of this mention emigrated with his family from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, to the United States in 1784, but died on shipboard with ship fever. His wife and five children landed at Baltimore, from which place they proceeded to Richmond county, N. C. There were three sons, Kenneth, John and William. Kenneth married Annie Harrington and remained on the homestead, John and William emigrated to Kentucky and Indiana. Kenneth had three sons, James, Daniel and Braton B. Daniel emigrated to Barbour county, Ala., in 1828, and was married to Amanda Burch in 1834, and the subject of the present sketch was born from this union on October 11, 1837, near Louisville, Ala. He had only one brother, John, who resided until his death at Meridian, Miss. He has three sisters living-Mrs. Sue Flournoy, widow of Robt. Flournoy, and Mrs. James Hobdy, living at Louisville, Ala., and Mrs. W. H. Norton, living at Fort Valley, Ga. Bethune B. Mckenzie received the solid ground work of his education at the Louisville academy, presided over at that time by Prof. A. R. McDonald, now of Montgomery. He afterward entered the fresh- man class of Howard college, and graduated there in 1858. He expected to continue his education by the study of law, but ill-health prevented. It became necessary for him to pursue some active out-door work, so he concluded to spend his life on a farm. In October, 1858, he married Miss C. E. Flournoy, the daughter of Gen. Thos. Flournoy, of Eufaula, and began farming in 1860. On the breaking out of the civil war in 1861 he entered the Confederate army as a private in company H, Seventh Alabama regi- ment. This was a twelve-month regiment and did not reorganize. In 1862 he entered into the organization of the Thirty-ninth Alabama regiment as first lieutenant, company C. But the campaign around Tupelo and Ripley, Miss., and the subsequent Kentucky campaign convinced him that. he was physically unable to stand infantry service. He therefore resigned, went home and raised a cavalry company, which was, with two other companies, ordered to Virginia and formed a part of the renowned Jeff. Davis legion. His command was under Gen. Hampton and took an active part in a number of battles, including second Cold Harbor, Trevilian Station, Reams Station, Bell Field, Bentonville, and many of lesser note, in all of which Capt. Mckenzie bore himself as became a brave soldier and a prudent officer. He was present at the little farm house near Dur- ham, N. C., on the 26th of April, 1865, when Gen. J. E. Johnston surren- dered to Gen. Sherman, having been detailed as Gen, Johnston's escort. He was sitting not more than fifteen feet from the two generals when the papers were being written and signed. After returning home from the war he was elected from Barbour county as a delegate to the consti- tutional convention called to rehabilitate the state with the United States government, and was the youngest member of that body. While his diffidence and inexperience prevented his taking a prominent part in that ..
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convention, he was an active worker, and although two conventions have been held since, our present constitution contains many clauses grafted thereon by his watchfulness. The war being over, farming was no longer a desirable life under the changed condition of things. He then began the work of civil engineering. He was engaged in the survey and building of the road from Eufaula to Clayton; was engineer-in-chief of the Georgia Central, and afterward was assistant engineer of the L. & N., having charge of the track department from Decatur to Mobile. In 1881 he abandoned railroading and embarked in the lumber business at Dunham, and after a year became associated with H. S. Perkins and Dr. W. N. Morton, under the firm name of Mckenzie, Morton & Co., a partnership which lasted until 1884, when Messrs. Mckenzie & Perkins bought the other member's interest and organized the Dunham Lumber company. Of this company Mr. Mckenzie was elected president, and after Mr. Perkins' accidental death, in 1888, W. H. Calhoun and F. Stol- lenwerck became identified with the enterprise and are still members of the firm. This company does a very extensive business, owning 10,000 acres of timber land, sixteen miles of standard gauge railroad, and oper- ates a mill with a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber per day, the entire output being shipped to eastern markets. Captain Mckenzie has distin- quished himself in business affairs as a man of exceptionally good execu- tive ability, able to manage successfully enterprises that require more than ordinary acumen and tact, and his honor and integrity in all of his transactions have won for him the universal esteem of his fellow-citizens thronghout southern Alabama. He is a gentleman of very pleasing ad- dress, tall and dignified in personal appearance, and posesses the rare but happy faculty of being able to preserve his equanimity at all times and under the most trying circunstances. His benevolence is only bounded by his means, and no one in Butler county has contributed more freely to the advancement of the county morally or materially than he. In politics he is a democrat. He never stoops to the methods and tricks of the professional partisan, but believes in advancing the interest of his party by means that are both dignified and honorable. Fraternally he belongs to the F. & A. M., in which he has taken a number of degrees, including that of Sir Knight; in religion he has been for a number of years a consistent member of the Baptist church, of which his wife is also a communicant. The following are the names of the children born to him: Edgar F., engineer on the L. & N. railroad, resident of Mobile, Caroline, wife of U. C. Vinson, Georgiana, Ala .; Anna, wife of Samuel T. Suratt, ticket agent for all roads centering in the Union depot at Montgomery; Amanda, wife Dr. W. W. Maugum; D. B., graduate of Alabama university and civil engineer in the employ of a railroad; Fannie, Lou, Kenneth, and Susan-the last four living with their parents at home.
DR. JARED D. OWENS was born July 25, 1848, in Glenville, Barbour county, Ala., and is the son of T. C. and Emily E. Owens. Receiving a
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fair education in the schools of his native county, the doctor, at the age of twenty, gratified his desire to prepare for the medical profession by entering the office of Dr. J. C. Kendrick, of . Greenville, under whose instructions he continued for less than one year. Being called upon one day to assist in a surgical operation, he conceived such a dislike for the profession that he concluded to drop the study and select some other calling for a life work. This he did, and for some time thereafter was engaged in farming and the timber business, in the latter of which he was quite successful until 1873, when he lost the greater part of his pos- sessions in the great panic of that year. During the interval between 1873 and 1876 he was engaged in farming, and in the latter year he re- sumed the study of medicine and in 1877 entered the Alabama Medical college at Mobile, faom which he graduated in 1879. Receiving his de- gree, he engaged in the practice of his chosen calling near Manningham, Butler county, Ala., on Cedar creek, and has practiced in the same neighborhood ever since. He has become very proficient as a practi- tioner, and occupies a commendable standing among his professional brethren of southern Alabama, who have upon different occasions elected him a representative in the State Medical association, and at different times elected him president of his county medical society. The doctor was married November 17, 1868, in Butler county, to Jeanette, daughter of Dr. G. W. Esselmen, and is the father of eight children, whose names are as follows: Emma, wife of Robert E. Peagler; Anna L., wife of W. C. Coleman; Birdie I., wife of William F. Crenshaw; Jared D., Jr. ; Helen V., Katie Lilian, Jeanette E. and Ethel E. The doctor's political affiliations are with the democratic party, and fraternally he is identified with the Masonic and K. of H. orders. He and Mrs. Owens are communicants of the Baptist church. Paternally, Dr. Owens is descended from the sturdy Scotch-Irish emigrants that settled in South Carolina in the time of the colonies, of which state his grandfather, Whitman H. Owens, was a native. Whitman Owens emigrated to Georgia when a young man, served as captain in the Indian war under Jackson, and was one of the surveyors that subdivided the state of Georgia into congressional townships. He became a resident of Alabama early in the '20's, settling in Glenville, Barbour county, where he became a large land owner and was one of the principal promoters of the Mobile & Girard railroad, in which he owned a large amount of stock. In 1856, he divided his large property among his children, retiring from active life, and died at the home of one of his sons, Judge Hasting E. Owens, in Henry county, in 1870. Col. T. C. Owens, the doctor's father, was a native of Decatur county, Ga., born about the year 1822. He became a prominent planter and large slave- holder, took active part in politics as a whig, and was a bitter opponent of secession in the years immediately preceding the great Civil war. He married in 1843, in Glenville, Ala., Emily E. Dennard, daughter of Jared Dennard, a wealthy planter and slave-holder of Georgia, who subsequently
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moved to Texas, in which state his death occurred. T. C. and Emily Owens resided in Barbour county until after the birth of all their children, and in 1856 moved to Butler county, locating in the southeastern portion, where they lived until breaking up house-keeping a few years ago. Mr. Owens, while on a prospecting tour in Mississippi, died in 1889. His widow still survives, making her home with her son, Dr. Jared D. Owens. Col. and Mrs. Owens were the parents of five children-two boys and three girls. The eldest, Henry V., is a mute, and a highly educated and accomplished gentleman, holding at this time a responsible clerkship in a large wholesale establishment; Mary Laura, also a mute, is a widow, now living in the family of her brother, the doctor. Eliza J., who is similarly afflicted, is the wife of Henry Brundage of Greenville, Ala. The youngest daughter, Mattie P., is the wife of J. T. Butts, and resides at Manningham, Ala. The peculiar affliction of the three members of Mr. Owen's family was the source of great concern to the father, who spared neither money nor pains in giving them the very best education attain- able. He expended several thousand dollars in their behalf, sent them to the very best institutions, both north and south, and also secured the services of an accomplished private tutor to teach them at home. The second daughter, Mrs. Brundage, whose husband is also a mute, is the mother of several exceedingly bright children, who so far have mani- fested no indications of their parents' peculiar malady.
THOMAS W. PEAGLER, the leading druggist of Greenville, Ala., is a. son of George S. and Absilla Peagler, and was born June 30, 1859, in Butler county, about twelve miles west of the city of Greenville. His father was born in South Carolina in 1808, became an extensive planter, and died in Butler county, Ala., in 1872. George Peagler's wife, Absilla, daughter of Gray and Penelope Stallings Thigpen, whom he married in 1840, bore him five children and died in the year 1875. Martin Peagler, the eldest of the family, was a soldier in the Confederate army, con- tracted a disease while in the service, and died before the close of the war. The second son, George W., is a farmer and stock raiser near Highland Home, Crenshaw county, Ala. G. J., the third in order of birth, is in the milling business at Forest, Ala. Sophronia, deceased, was the wife of W. M. Flowers, and the youngest member of the family is the gentleman whose name introduces this mention. Thomas W. Peag- ler's educational training was acquired in the common schools and by a short attendance at an educational institution of a higher grade, and on reaching the years of his majority he engaged in the pursuit of agricul- ture on the home farm, where he resided until the year 1888. At that time he formed a partnership with A. G. Stewart in the drug business at Greenville, where the firm of Stewart & Peagler did a successful trade until 1885, Mr. Peagler selling out to his partner at that date. He then purchased an interest in the drug firm of E. M. Kirkpatrick & Co., which after his admission became known as Kirkpatrick & Peagler, under which
J. C Richardson
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-BUTLER COUNTY.
name the business was carried on until March, 1889, when Mr. Peagler bought the entire stock. He has since that time been prominently iden- tified with the drug trade of Greenville, and now owns the largest store of the kind in the city, carrying a stock of over $5.000 and doing a busi- ness amounting to about $12,000 per year. He still owns a part of the old home plantation and is the possessor of a beautiful residence in Greenville. He is one of the successful young business men in Butler county, and is very popular, especially with the younger element, who who hold him in the highest esteem. He was for some time captain of one of the local military companies of Greenville-the Greenville Light Guards, and afterward captain of the Greenville Rifle company, which was organized by consolidating the two old companies-the Greenville Light Guards and Butler Rifles, but resigned that position to accept the office of major of the First regiment Alabama state troops, to which he was elected in November, 1890, to fill an unexpired term, and was again elected unanimously in February, 1892, for a term of three years. Mr. Peagler and Ellen, daughter of J. L. Dunkin, were united in the bonds of matrimony November, 1882. They have had three children, W. Werle and Myrtle, living, and Ila, who died at the age of two years. Mr. Peag- ler is past chancellor of the K. of P. lodge of Greenville, and belongs to the American Legion of Houor.
JULIUS C. RICHARDSON is one of Alabama's younger men who have attained distinction at the bar and in the field of politics. He is the son of Rev. Simon Peter and Mary E. (Arledge) Richardson. His father was a noted Baptist preacher in his time, well known throughout the south for his uncompromizing attitude toward "the flesh and the devil." The island of Key West, Fla., was the place where Julius C. Richardson first saw the light, the time being on the 18th of April, 1851. Coming to Ala- bama when a young man, Mr. Richardson was educated at the A. & M. college at Auburn. Ala., at Summerfield institute, and at the Southern university, at Greensboro. At this point it became necessary to supply himself with some of the sinews of war before he could prepare for his chosen profession, and the school-room, that stepping stone to future greatness, and the poor young man's treasury where he may honorably replenish his exhausted exchequer, found in him an earnest and successful teacher. In 1872 he became a matriculate of the law department of the Cumberland university, Lebanon, Tenn., taking the bachelor's degree there the following year. After prospecting some little, in January, 1874, he selected Greenville as a location and immediately entered upon a suc- cessful career, though he had for his associates such talented lawyers as Hilary A. Herbert, Judge John K. Henry, Thos. J. Judge, and others not less renowned, and at this time (1892) he is the acknowledged leader of a bar made illustrious by the names of Watts, Crenshaw, Porter and Lomax. His success is due to a keen perception of right, the ability to sift a case 35
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thoroughly, selecting its strongest points, and a tenacity of purpose which stops not short of a favorable decision. Mr. Richardson's reputa- tion at the bar soon brought hin the offer of political honors, but he could not be prevailed upon to accept until a vacancy occurred in the state senate in 1886, caused by the death of Judge John K. Henry. Mr. Richardson was selected to filll out the unexpired term. Of this selection the Montgomery Advertiser said: "He is a source of pride and pleasure to his friends, throughout the state. As a public man he has always been upright, honest and true, and his ability to fill the honorable position to which he has been called by the people of his district is un- questioned and unquestionable." During the session he proved himself thoroughly alive to the interests of his district, and as a member of the joint committee of the house and senate on the revision of the code of Alabama rendered much valuable service by his entire familiarity with the subject in all its intricate details. In writing of him at this time, a biographer remarks that "no man of his age has been more successful. He has the quickest and acutest perception, and is possessed of a mind thoroughly trained and organized for the law, which he loves for its own sake. He is a brilliant conversationalist, an extensive miscellaneous reader, an eloquent speaker and writer, and possesses great dignity of character." In literature Mr. Richardson is an acknowledged connoisseur. At his office he has one of the finest and most complete law libraries in the state. At his house he duplicates this, and adds all the best authors to be found in the field of good books. In November of 1874, Mr. Rich- ardson was married to Miss Bettie McCall, one of Greenville's worthy and accomplished young ladies, the daughter of D. T. McCall. Esq., a representative of an old and highly respected family of Butler. Two children were born to the union-Terry M. and Mack. In 1891, the wife and mother entered upon that life in whose pleasures we may not partic- ipate till the "golden thread be broken." Mrs. R. was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is remembered as an earnest christian woman, whose delight was charity, and whose devotion to home, husband and children was of that type which secures a place in the memory of all with whom she came in contact.
THADDEUS L. ROSE, the popular and efficient agent of the L. & N. railroad at Georgiana, Ala., was born in Yazoo county, Miss., on the 14th of January, 1855. He is the eldest son of E. D. L. and Jane (Hyatt) Rose, a family of English descent. His father was a native of Virginia, born in the year 1819. After graduating at Yale college he married, and. moved to Macon, Ga., thence to Yazoo City, Miss., and from the latter place to Selma, Ala., where the family lived during the Civil war, in which the father took a part. After the war the family, having lost all their possessions, moved to Washington county, Ala., where, broken in health and unused to battle for the necessities of life, the father died on the 14th of February, 1869. After his death the family removed to State
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Line, Miss., where Thaddeus L., entered the railroad office of the M. & O. and took upon himself the responsibility of supporting and caring for his mother and younger brothers and sisters. At the early age of fourteen he was in sole charge of the office and became known all along the line as the "baby agent." After several years his efficiency secured him an appointment in the city of Mobile, where he remained until 1880, when, after a short sojourn in Montgomery, he was stationed at Georgiana, where he has since had charge of the railroad interests and cotton yard. In his line of work he is conceded to be a model of faithfulness and efficiency and bears the reputation of being one of the most expert and rapid telegraphers on the L. & N. system. In fact, his services have been so efficient that he has been presented by the general manager of the great L. & N. system with a certificate designating him "the model agent of their line." Having the burden of a family thrown upon him at so early an age, Mr. Rose found himself handicapped so far as an education was concerned. He had inherited his father's taste for books, however, and with the aid of an accomplished and devoted mother he soon mastered the common branches, and by persistent study has made himself familiar with most of the sciences and classics. For the past few years he has given much attention to the study of the law, upon the practice of which profession he contemplates entering in the not far distant future. The lack of educational advantages in his youth impressed Mr. Rose most forcibly with the idea that every young person should be given as much encouragement in that line as possible, and beginning with a younger brother and sister whom he has given a classical education out of his own earnings, he has taken delight in instilling into the minds of the young people with whom he has come in contact a desire for higher educational training, and many a young man has found in him a friend both morally and financially. Untiring in his interest in this direction, he has care- fully educated and fitted for life's duties a number of young men, who all now occupy remunerative and responsible positions. Mr. Rose is not only a suave and polished gentleman, and a brilliant and interesting conver- sationalist, but he adds to these an enviable reputation as a platform orator. Early in life he began to cultivate his natural gift for public speaking, and when too close attention to office work found him in failing health, he conceived, and, with his characteristic energy, carried out the idea of addressing the people upon educational topics. He traveled for one year in this way over the greater part of the southern states, and not only recovered his health but gained a fine reputation as a lecturer. In March of 1891 Mr. Rose decided to gratify his longing for travel, and, joining a party of thirty or forty, he made the voyage across the ocean. During his absence he visited all the points of interest on the continent of Europe, and from thence passed on to Egypt and the Holy Land. Since his return home he has lectured in different places on the experiences of his trip. These lectures are the source of great benefit to the people to
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