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 66
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whom they are addressed, as they are primarily intended to reach a large class of the public who do not read much, with a view to aid them in a better understanding of the Bible and the necessity for a rational, every day religion. Wherever he has lectured in the rural districts, thousands have gathered from every direction to listen to his discourses-many travel- ing a distance of thirty miles or more-and in many instances the lecture rooms were too small for the accommodation of the vast audiences. A quotation from a newspaper account of one of his lectures will serve to show how he is appreciated. "He is a pleasant, fluent and graceful speaker. His lecture was extempore with nothing cut and dried and memorized, and it was a real treat to hear this cultured gentleman speak of his varied Oriental experiences. In private conversation he is charming in his delineation of the people and the countries with which he has come in contact; but when in a crowded house, with the inspiration of an intel- ligent audience to give him a hearing, he is simply unsurpassed." Mr. Rose has never married. Death claimed his sainted mother on the 14th of May, 1878, since which time he has lived a bachelor's life, wedded to his work and to his books. He bears the reputation of being generous to the needy, and is a consistent member of the Baptist church.
GEORGE W. SEARCY, one of the most successful agriculturists of Butler county, is the son of William M. and Martha Searcy, and was born in Milledgeville, Baldwin county, Ga., on the 6th day of June, 1851. William M. Searcy was also a native of Georgia, born in the year 1817, and followed planting during his life, in which he was quite successful. He married, about the year 1837, Martha Woodall of Georgia, and resided in that state until 1859, at which time he emigrated to Alabama and settled in the southern part of Butler county, where he lived until after the war, when he removed to the place now owned by his son, the subject of this sketch, where his death occurred in 1866. His wife died in 1860. William M. and Martha Searcy were the parents of nine children: Andrew, deceased; Riley, Henrietta, wife of Elisha Parker; Francis Marion; Daniel, deceased in infancy; George W .; Luther; William, and Ella, wife of William Rogers. George W. Searcy was eight years of age when his parents moved to Alabama, and on rearching his fifteenth year was thrown upon his own resources by the death of his father. He first found employment as a farm laborer with his brother, Riley, for whom he worked two years and then for one year attended school, his previous educational training having been sadly neglected. On quitting school he leased a piece of land and after clearing and farming the same four years, purchased a place of his own, which he has added to at different times he now owns a tract of 2,200 acres, 600 acres of which are under cultivation. being one of the largest and most valuable plantations in Butler county. He has on this fine farm a steam-gin, a saw and grist mill, and a store in which is kept an assortment of merchandise to meet the demands of the general trade of the community. The production of his cotton field
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represents about 265 bales a year, besides which, he pays considerable attention to other crops and also to live stock. Mr. Searcy is a self-made man, his present possessions being the result of his own unaided exer- tions. He is enterprising and progressive, enjoys a most excellent reputation among his fellow-citizens, and is a fine specimen of the thrifty and intelligent southern gentleman. In personal appearance he is large and commanding, has a vigorous constitution, and, being in the very prime of life, his future is replete with much that is promising. Mr. Searcy and Inez, daughter of Joseph and Emma McComb, entered into the marriage relation in Montgomery, Ala., July 29, 1885, and their union has resulted in the birth of three children: Ralph C., Norman J. and William D. Mr. and Mrs. Searcy are members of the Episcopal church and Mr. Searcy belongs to the orders of K. of H. and K. of P., and votes in con- formity with the dictates of the democratic party.
GEORGE A. SEAWRIGHT was born in Orangeburg district, S. C., Sep- tember 1, 1840, the son of Stephen S. and Rachael (Sistrunk) Seawright. The parents were natives of South Carolina and of Scotch-Irish and Dutch descent, respectively. Mr. Seawright's grandfater, Robert Sea- wright, was born in Scotland, came to the United States in an early day, and settled in South Carolina, where he reared a family. Stephen S. Seawright was born in Orangeburg district about the year 1817, married Rachael, daugter of Casper Sistrunk, in 1839, and resided in South Car- olina until 1850, at which time he moved to Cherokee county, Ga., which was his home for one year. Subsequently he removed to Russell county, Ala., where he lived six years, and thence to the northern part of Butler county, when he died in 1861. He was twice married; his first wife, the mother of George A., who was her only child, died when her son was but an infant, and the second marriage was consummated with Acklin Hook, who became the mother of three children. George A. Seawright was bred a farmer, and at the age of sixteen entered a boarding school near the town of Lewisville, S. C., where he made substantial progress in the common branches of learning, and of which he was a student when the war between the states broke out. In the spring of 1861 he enlisted in Dunklin's company, and for sometime thereafter was stationed at Penseacola, Fla., where, on account of physical disability, he was sub- sequently discharged from the service. Within a short time he re-entered the army, joining the Seventeenth Alabama infantry, with which he did valuable service, principally in the western department, and took part in Shiloh and nearly all the battles of the Atlanta campaign, in one of which, Peach Tree creek, he received a painful wound in the side. His escape from death appears almost miraculous and life was only saved by a small pocket Testament, through which the ball passed, thius spend- ing its force before reaching the body, although one rib was broken by the deflection of the missile. From Atlanta Mr. Seawright accompanied his regiment back through Tennessee on Hood's raid, and participated in
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the battles of Franklin and Nashville, and with others was captured and sent to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he remained a prisoner until his release on the 4th day of July, 1865. Returning home, Mr. Seawright re- sumed farming, which he carried on successfully until 1885, when he' engaged in the furniture business at Greenville, with which he is still identified as clerk. He still owns valuable city property and farm lands, aggregating about 625 acres, which he lets out to tenants, and which are the source of considerable revenue. Mr. Seawright's life has been a very active one, and as a citizen, honorable and upright in all his deal- ings, few people in the county stand any higher in the estimation of the public. His marriage with Miss Susan E. Parmer, daughter of W. K. Parmer, was solemnized in 1868, and to the union have been born the following children: William K., Arthur, Marion E. and Josephine E., liv- ing, and William G., Arthur and an infant, not named, deceased. The Parmers were among the earliest settlers in the vicinity of Greenville, and are also classed with the very best citizens of the county.
JOHN M. SIMS .- Conspicuous among the leading business men of Georgiana, is John M. Sims, who, for a number of years, has been at the head of the mercantile trade in Butler county. His father, M. R. Sims, was a native of Georgia, born about the year 1827, and was by occupa- tion a mechanic and also carried on merchandising for a considerable period. He served for a number of years as clerk of the court of Dale county, Ala., and was a man prominent in local affairs, of liberal educa- tion and excellent private character. His wife, Frances B. Bottoms, whom he married in Barbour county, Ala., about the year 1842, bore him five children, namely: James M., Georgiana, Ala .; Mark W., died at Selma during the war; Mary Ann, wife of Thomas E. Atkinson; John M. and one that died in infancy, unnamed. The mother of these children died at Midway, Barbour county, in 1852, and the father followed her to the grave, dying in 1867. John M. Sims was born on the first day of February, 1950, at the town of Midway, Ala., and received his educational training in the common schools, which he attended at intervals until his twenty-first year. On attaining his majority, he embarked in merchan- dising at the town of Georgiana, in partnership with U. C. Vinson, and the firm thus formed continued with very flattering success for a period of four years, when it was dissolved, Mr. Vinson retiring, and Mr. Sims engaging in business alone. He conducted his second store from the fall of 1875 until 1879, at which time he became associated in the trade with U. C. Vinson and James Sims, under the firm name of Sims Bros. & Vinson, and was thus identified about one year, when he sold out his interests and retired from the partnership. In 1880, he again embarked in the mercan- tile trade, but a little over a year afterward, owing to the poor crops of 1881, was forced to dispose of his stock at a sacrifice and retire from commercial pursuits for a season. From that time until 1886, he was not engaged in any kind of active business, but the latter year again embarked
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in merchandising and has since continued the same with a most encourag- ing success, being now one of the most extensive dealers in Georgiana, and having much more than a local reputation in commercial circles outside of Butler county, and beyond the limits of his state. His stock, which consists of all articles demanded by the general trade, is very carefully selected and represents a capital of over $10,000, and the annual business, which is constantly increasing, aggregates in the neighborhood of $110,000. Mr. Sims is also interested in agricultural pursuits, and owns a fine plantation of 300 acres four miles south of Georgiana, upon which are some of the finest improvements to be found in this part of the state. Mr. Sims and Miss Mary, daughter of James Adams, were married in Georgiana, September 17, 1872, and to their union have been born three children: Louis J., Exa, and John M., aged fourteen, four and two years, respectively. Mr. Sims is one of the progressive and enterprising citizens of Butler county, fully alive to all movements having for their object the public welfare, and possesses, in a marked degree, the confidence of the people of his community. Politically a democrat, he is not a partisan in the sense of seeking office, although frequently importuned by his fellow citizens to present his name for political prefer- ment. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Georgiana lodge, No. 285, in which he holds the office of junior warden, and also belongs to lodge No. 2844, K. of H. He and wife are members of the Baptist church.
JESSE F. STALLINGS, member of Congress and a distinguished lawyer of Greenville, Butler county, Ala., was born in that county April 4, 1856, and was educated at the university of Alabama, where he graduated in 1877. After his graduation he read law with J. C. Richardson, of Green- ville, uutill he was admitted to the bar in 1879, and located for the practice of his profession at his present home in Greenville. From the start in public life, Mr. Stallings has been prominently identified with the politics of his county and state, having been a delegate from Butler county to all the state conventions, since 1880, and in 1886 he was elected solicitor for the second judicial district for a term of six years. In 1888 he was a delegate to the democratic national convention at St. Louis. In 1892, he was elected to congress from the second district by a majority of 7,100. He is a man of great personal popularity and political sagacity, and has never violated any of the numerous and important trusts reposed in him. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was united in marriage in 1888 to Belle, daughter of Capt. A. M. McAll- ister, of Barbour county, Ala. His father was Reuben Stallings, of Alabama. He was an extensive farmer and served all through the war under General Lee. He died in December, 1891. His wife was Lucinda Ferguson, a native of Alabama.
F. STOLLENWERCK, the gentleamn whose biographical sketch is here- with presented, is a descendant of an accomplished French family which
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settled many years ago in St. Domingo, from which island his grandpar- ents were obliged to flee during the negro insurrection and seek refuge in the United States. They located in New York city and the subject's grandfather was afterward deputed by congress to test the culture of the grape in Alabama and other parts of the south. A. G. Stollenwerck, father of F. Stollenwerck, is a native of Alabama, born in Greene county in the year 1838. and is now a resident of the city of Birmingham, where he does an extensive business as a stock and bond broker. In 1852 he contracted a matrimonial alliance with Miss Julia F. Fowlkes of North , Carolina, but, at the time of . her marriage, a resident of Marion county, Ala., and reared the following family of children: H. A., cotton buyer of Birmingham; E. L., master of trains on the Louisville & Nash- ville railroad; Frank; A. G., Jr., manager of the Wheeling Pottery com- pany, Wheeling, W. Va. ; Herbert, who was bookkeeper for the Dunham Lumber company, and was accidentally killed in a railroad accident, July 10, 1890; Julia; Clayton, manager of Southern States Lumber company, Caryville, Fla .; Mary; Samuel; Leslie and Nettie. F. Stollenwerck was born September 20, 1860, in Marion county, Ala., in the schools of which he received a practical education. At the age of fifteen he began clerking in a cotton buyer's office in Selma, Ala., and after continuing in that capacity three years, formed a partnership with his father and for five years thereafter was extensively engaged in the cotton trade at Selma and other cities of the state. Relinquishing the cotton business, he next accepted the position of cashier in the bank of Joseph Steiner & Sons, Greenville, Ala., the duties of which he discharged until the spring of 1889, when, in partnership with his brother-in-law, W. H. Cal- houn, he purchased a half-interest in the Dunham Lumber company, with which he is still identified and of which he is now vice-president. Mr. Stollenwerck's business career has been highly successful and his creditable standing in the social circles of his community attests the esti- mation in which he is held by his fellow-citizens of Dunham. He has in- herited in a marked degree many of the refined characteristics of his an- cestors, and, being in the very vigor of life, has before him a future fraught with much that is promising. On the 6th day of July, 1882, in the city of Greenville, Ala., Mr. Stollenwerck was united in marriage with Emma Calhoun, the accomplished niece of Col. H. A. Herbert, M. C.,
. and now secretary of navy in the cabinent of President Cleveland. Mrs. Stollenwerck was early left an orphan and grew to womanhood under the watchful care of an aunt, Mrs. Buell, who spared neither money nor pains in procuring for her the best educational advantages obtaina- ble. She is a graduate of the Greenville Collegiate institute, where she took the first honors of her class, and is a lady of refinement and varied accomplishments, with decided talents as an artist. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Stollenwerck has been gladdened by the birth of one child, Frank, an interesting boy of nine years. Mr. Stollenwerck is a demo-
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crat in his political belief, belongs to lodge No. 776. K. of H., and with his wife is a member of the Episcopal church in which he holds the position of vestryman.
ABRAHAM C. VAN PELT, a prosperous merchant and planter, was born in Cabarrus county, N. C., August 22, 1834, son of Abraham and Jane Reed; Van Pelt. The father was also a native of North Carolina, born in the year 1786, and descended from Dutch ancestors, who settled in New York at an early date of the country's history. Abraham and Jane Van Pelt were married about the year 1808, in North Carolina, and became the parents of ten children, but four of whom are living, namely: Emmeline, widow of Allen Shive; Teresa, widow of Edward Litaker; Samuel F., and Abraham C. The father and mother of this family never moved to Alabama, but died in their native state, the former in 1856, and the latter in 1862. At the age of twenty-one Abraham C. Van Pelt went to Columbus, Ga., and followed the mercantile business at that place for one year, at the end of which time he moved to Chambers county, Ala., where he was similarly engaged for a period of five years. Subse- quently he embarked in merchandising in the county of Butler at Oakey Streak, and carried on a prosperous trade at that point until 1862, at which time he enlisted in Clanton's cavalry company, but shortly there- after procured a substitute and joined the artillery service at Fort Mor- gan. His first engagement was the battle of Mobile, which commenced August 4, 1862, and continued until the surrender, twenty days later, during which time, Mr. Van Pelt was under almost continuous fire. After his capture he was sent to New Orleans, thence to Elmira, N. Y., where he was held a prisoner until the close of the war, returning home in June, 1865. On his return he at once engaged in the timber and lum- ber business, which he carried on two years, and in 1868 moved to his present place and commenced farming, which he has carried on with most gratifying success, being at this time one of thee most extensive agriculturists in Butler county. About twelve years ago he purchased a stock of general merchandise and embarked in mercantile trade, which he continues to carry on in connection with his farming interests and in which he has met with very flattering success, his stock representing a capital of about $3,000. Mr. Van Pelt's plantation is a magnificient tract of land, embracing an area of 1,200 acres, and his farming is con- ducted upon the latest and most approved plans. He gives personal at- tention to his farming and mercantile businses and sustains a commend- able reputation as an honorable and upright citizen in the community where he has so long resided. Though not identified with. any religious organization, the Presbyterian church represents his creed, and he has ever been a friend and promoter of all enterprises looking to the moral and material advancement of the community. He votes in conformity with the democratic party and takes an active interest in the Masonic fraternity, of which he is a member. In the year 1863, in Butler county,
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Mr. Van Pelt and Miss Louisa Owens, daughter of Robert E. Owens, were made man and wife, and their union has resulted in the birth of eleven children, seven living: Frank, Willie, Homer, Jennie, Hiram, Oscar, and Ula: the deceased were: Neal, Laura, Carrie, and Herman.
MACK WIMBERLY was a native of Georgia, born in Talbot county in the year 1808. Until after the late war he followed planting exclusively and subsequently engaged in other business, accumulated great wealth and became one of the most extensive capitalists in Butler county. He moved from his native state to Macon county, Ala., in 1850, and in 1855 became a resident of the county of Conecuh, which was his home until the close of the Civil war. In 1867, he changed his residence to Green- ville, Butler county, and lived in that city until his death, which occurred in 1885. He was married in Georgia, about the year 1825, to Rocella Langley, and had a large family of some eleven children, only three of whom are living at this time, namely: Mrs. Frances Moorefield, who resides at Columbus, Ga .; Alice, wife of Milton Park of Dallas, Texas, and Mack Wimberly, whose name is that of his father. Mr. Wimberly was a public-spirited citizen in all that term implies, a keen and shrewd business man and contributed largely toward the material prosperity of Greenville. He was highly respected, became one of the wealthiest men of the place, and his death was felt to be an almost irreparable loss to the community. Mrs. Wimberly preceded her husband to the grave, de- parting this life in the year, 1862. Mack Wimberly, the immediate sub- ject of this biography, was born July 1, 1850, in Talbot county, Ga., in the common schools of which he received a practical English educa- tion. At the age of seventeen, he began clerking in the mercantile house of Bear & Gandy, in which firm his father owned an interest, and with which he remained for a period of about four years, obtaining a thorough knowledge of the trade, in the meantime. He was similarly employed for some time thereafter with other firins, and in 1878 em- barked in business for himself in partnership with Thomas Boyd and William Flowers, under the firm name of Boyd, Wimberly & Co., which continued about three years, when Mr. Wimberly purchased the entire stock and has since been one of the leading merchants of Greenville. His business has been very successful and he carries a stock of about $6,000, does trade of from $60,000 to $70,000, and in addition to his commercial interests is extensively engaged in farming and stock raising in Butler county. He has given considerable attention to matters military, and has held the office of major in the First Alabama regiment, state troops, a position of honor and responsibility. As a democrat he has been active in political affairs, though never having sought office, and he is prominently identified with the K. of P., K. of H., and Odd. Fellows fraternities. Mr. Wimberly was united in marriage in the city of Greenville, in 1878, to Katie Graham, who died in July, 1881, leaving one child, a daughter, Katie, now a Miss of twelve years. Mr. Wim-
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berly married his second wife in Opelika, in 1885, Miss Jennie Ware, who has borne him one child, Werth Wimberly. Mr. Wimberly is a member of the Baptist church and is a trustee of the Baptist school at. Greenville. Mrs. Wimberly is a communicant of the Methodist church.
WILLIAM P. GRAHAM, one of the old and substantial citizens of Butler county, is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, and traces the history of his family to an early period of South Carolina, long antedating the Revolutionary struggle. His grandfather, John Graham, was born in Ireland, but came to America in the time of the colonies, settling in South Carolina, where, at the breaking out of the war of independence, his mechanical skill was employed in the manufacture of drums for the patriot army. Samuel N. Graham, father of William P., was born in Grangeburg district, S. C., in 1798. In early life, he was a manufacturer of guns, and is said to have made the first machine of the kind ever made in Alabama. Later, he became a minister of the Methodist Protest- ant church, and preached quite extensively for a number of years in various parts of Alabama, to which state he removed when a young man. He married, in the county of Lowndes, in the year 1824, Mary Browning, a native of Georgia, and about 1840 moved to Montgomery county, thence four years later to Butler county, where he lived until his removal to Home Valley, west Florida, in 1850. Subsequently he returned to Alabama, locating in Henry county, and after a residence there of four years moved- back to Butler, where he departed this life on the 18th day of February, 1880, sincerely mourned by his friends. Mrs. Graham, who shared the joys and sorrows of her husband for over half a century, followed him to the grave on the 6th day of February, 1882. Eleven children con- stituted the family of Samuel N. and Mary H. Graham, four of whom are living, namely: Elizabeth, wife of James Mayward; Margaret S., wife of O. C. Pushton; William P. and Diademia, widow of William McGlaun. William P. Graham was born in Lowndes county, Ala., May 13, 1833, and, with the exception of his period of service in the Confederate army, has always been a farmer and mill man. He has resided nearly all his life in Butler county, where he owns a fine farm of 380 acres, and he also operates a grist mill and cotton gin, both of which are extensively patronized by the people of his and neighboring communities. His military experience embraced the period between March, 1862, and the final surrender at Appomattox in 1865, during which time he participated in some of the bloodiest battles of the war, including Perryville, where he received a painful wound in the right shoulder, Chickamauga, and all the engagements of the Atlanta campaign. He was wounded a second time on the 21st of July, 1863, being struck on the jaw by a rifle ball, the effect of which was to take him from the ranks for a con- siderable length of time. His regiment, the Thirty-third Alabama, formed a part of Hood's army in that general's raid throughout Tennessee, and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, in both of which en-
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