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 69
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W. G. LEDBETTER, president of the bank at Anniston and president of the Woodstock Iron company, was born in Madison county, Ala., in 1851. He is a son of John W. and Elizabeth (Glover) Ledbetter, the former of whom was a native of Virginia, born there in 1811 and came to Alabama in 1821. John W. Ledbetter was the son of Archie Ledbet- ter. Mrs. Elizabeth Ledbetter was a native of South Carolina. William G. was reared in Madison county and received but a very limited education, for the war came on just in time to prevent his continuance in school. After the war he went to NewYork, where for nine years he was engaged in the wholesale hat business. He then removed to Lynchburg, Va., where he was engaged for five years in the manufacture of tobacco. He next moved to Winston, N. C., and was there engaged four years in the manufacture of tobacco. In 1887 he came to Alabama, locating in Anniston, where the same year he assisted in the organization of the bank of Anniston. Of this bank he was elected vice-president and served two years, when he was elected president and has since then been in this position. In 1890, when the Piedmont Land Improvement company was organized, Mr. Ledbetter was chosen vice-president, but as the president resided in Delaware, Mr. Ledbetter was practically the president of the company, to which posi-
tion he was elected in 1892. When the Anniston Land company was organized he was made a director in it, he also organized the Ledbetter Land company and in 1886, just before the boom, purchased 350 acres of land, for which in less than sixty days he was offered large advances on the price paid, but which refused. In 1877 he married Sarah Draper, daughter of Daniel D., and Caroline (Woods) Draper, both natives of South Carolina. To this marriage there have been born seven children, four of whom are living: Ruth, Ralph, Grace and Willie G. Mrs. Ledbetter was born in Oxford, Ala. Mr. Ledbetter and wife are members of the Baptist church, of which he is a deacon. He is also a Mason. Both he and wife are higly respected and useful members of society.
JAMES M. AND WILLIAM C. LEGRAND, constituting the firm of Le- Grand Brothers, are the most prominent business men of Weaver's station, Ala. James M. was born in Alabama, September 16, 1852; William C.
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was born in Georgia, September 21, 1850-sons of Joshua C. and Martha A. (Watson) LeGrand, both natives of Georgia. The father enlisted in the late war in 1863 in the Thirty-first Georgia regiment at Atlanta, Ga. He was a large planter, also a teacher in the common schools. He was a son of William and Sarah (Snell) LeGrand, both natives of South Caro- lina. William LeGrand was a son of a native of France, who came to America in an early day and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Martha A. LeGrand was born in Georgia, daughter of Calvin and Mollie (Holbrook) Watson, both natives of South Carolina. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and the son of a Revolutionary soldier. James M. LeGrand first followed teaching school six years; in -1834 he married Carrie S. Evins, daughter of B. S. and Louisa (Williamson) Evins. The parents were both natives of Georgia and came to Alabama in 1852. The father is one of the leading physicians of Alabama, now at White Plains. To the marriage of James M. have been born five children: Clem E., Charles E., John T. Lelia S. and William B. The mother was born and reared in Alabama and she and husband are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. William C. LeGrand came to Alabama with his parents, and, like his brother, received but a common education. In 1888 he and his brother engaged in the mercantile business at Weaver's Station and since that time have conducted a prosperous business; in 1892 they entered into the cotton business and are the only cotton buyers at Weaver's Station. He and his brother began business on borrowed capital, and by close application to business and untiring enery they have made a great success. They are both prominent citizens of the county and have the entire confinence of all who know them.
CHARLES C. LLOYD, one of the old pioneer settlers of Calhoun county, Ala., was born July 3, 1831, son of Joseph and Rachel ( Nelson ) Lloyd, both natives of Virginia. He received but a limited education in the primitive pine-pole school house, and December 1, 1853, married Rebecca J. Calvert, daughter of Bazil and Mary (Leatherwood) Calvert. This union was followed by the birth of nine children, seven of whom are still living: Mary, Annie, Mirian, Charles, Arrie, James M., Benjamin F. Lloyd. The mother was born in South Carolina in 1832. In 1862 he enlisted in Company A, Capt. Marino, Thirty-first Alabama regiment, under Gen. Pettus, served until the close of the war, and was with Gen. Joe E. Johnston in his famous retreat. He is one of the worthy old citizens of the county and he and wife lead the upright life of consistent Baptists.
GEORGE W. LLOYD, one of the old pioneers of Alabama, was born in Morgan county, Ga., in 1829, a son of Joseph and Rachel (Nelson) Lloyd, both natives of Virginia, who went to Georgia in the early settling of that state, and remained until 1834, when they came to Alabama and settled among the Indians, in what is now Calhoun county. The father was one among the first settlers, and made a farm in the woods. The
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grandfather Lloyd was a native of Wales, came to America in an early day, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died from a wound re- ceived in that struggle. Mrs. Rachel Lloyd was born in Virginia, a daughter of Oliver Nelson, who was of Scotch descent. George W. Lloyd was reared on the farm where he now lives. He received but little education, and had to go three miles to a little pine-pole school house. In 1853 he married Rosanna J. Stewart, daughter of James and Anna (Moffitt) Stewart. This union resulted in the birth of eight children, six of whom are living: George'S., Laura A., Hiram, Curry, Stewart and Elijah. The mother was born and reared in Calhoun county. Mr. Lloyd has now lived on his farm fifty-six years, and has never bought pork, corn, flour or coal-he has always made it a point to raise all the neces- saries of life. In 1862, in February, he enlisted in company A, Thirty- first Alabama regiment, under Gen. E. W. Pettus, and his brother, Chas .. Lloyd, was in the same regiment, and same company, and served through the balance of the war, and was with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in his famous retreat. In 1863, he was made a sergeant and served as orderly during the remainder of the war.
ROBERT MCCAIN. one of the pioneers of Calhoun county, Ala., was born in Mecklenburg, N. C., December 13, 1812, a son of Joseph N. and Jennett (Moore) McCain, both natives of North Carolina. The father was a son of Hugh and Mary McCain, the grandfather was a native of Penn- sylvania and was one of the first settlers in North Carolina. During the Revolutionary war he ran a tannery in North Carolina, and at one time Cornwallis came to take his leather, but hearing of his coming, Mr. McCain got some men to help him, dug a hole in the bottom of the creek sank the leather and covered it over with sand. When Cornwallis made his demand for the leather, he accompanied it with a threat that if Mr. McCain did not disclose its hiding place he would have him hanged, and, failing to get the information, ordered him taken to a tree, which the men hanged him until almost dead, then they let him down, and on his recover- ing, still refusing to disclose the hiding place, they again swung him up. This cruel treatment was repeated three times before they stopped, but the British never received the information sought and never found the leather. The grandfather was too old for the war, but his son was not, and at the time Cornwallis's men were trying to find this leather one of his men stepped up to Mr. McCain's wife and took a large hat she was wearing off her head, and the next day this same man and his comrades were captured and Mr. McCain's son, Hugh, was in the party that captured them, being a lieutenant; when he saw the hat asked his general if it was any harm to cut his mother's hat, and the general replied no-then Hugh went to hunt the wearer, and on finding him, made a stroke with his sword at the man's head, but the Britisher threw up his arm, which received the blow and had the flesh cut off from the wrist to the elbow. Mrs. Jennett McCain was a daughter of James and Margaret Moore, both
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natives of North Carolina. They had a son, James, who was with Gen. Jackson at New Orleans. Robert McCain was five years of age when his father removed to South Carolina and settled on the Indians' lands near York court house, where he attended the common schools between crop time and fodder pulling time. In 1835 the family removed from South Carolina to Chattooga county, Ga., where they remained ten years. On October 19, 1837, Robert married Mary E. Hallum, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth (Whitney) Hallum. This union was blessed with three boys-one living-Richard H. ; those dead were named Joseph, and John B. The mother was born in Pickens district, S. C., in 1810, and died July 18, 1868, a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1845 Mr. McCain came to Alabama and settled on the farm where he now lives. On December 22, 1869, he married Sarah E. Scott, daughter of William Scott. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and died in February, 1889, and on November 24, 1889, he married Mary H. Cowan, daughter of Hiram and Margaret (Harris) Cowan. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while he is a member of the old school Presbyterian church. Mr. McCain served as justice of the peace, in beat 8, nine years; he was commissioner of Calhoun county ten years, and was captain of a company of militia while in Georgia. When he first landed in Alabama he had only $10, and bought his land on credit, but he is a man that has made a success of farming, having never engaged in any other occupation. He now owns 560 acres of fine land, most of which is tillable. He is one of the substantial citizens of the county.
BENJAMIN MICOU, one of the leading young attorneys of Anniston, Ala., was born in Tallassee, Elmore county, Ala., in May, 1865. He is a son of Benjamin H. and Mary J. (Sims) Micou, both natives of Augusta, Ga. The former was born in 1825, came to Alabama in 1846, located in Montgomery and engaged first in the mercantile business, and was also interested in planting, being at one time one of the largest planters in the state, owning 5,000 acres of land. He is one of the original stock- holders in the cotton factory at Tallassee, it being the largest in the state. He was elected president of the company, and was president up to the time of its failure, in 1874, when he engaged in cotton planting. In poli- tics he was always a democrat, and took great interest in elections. He was a member of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was a son of William and Martha Ann (Chatfield) Micou. Benjamin Micou was reared in Tallassee and Montgomery. He then attended the university of the South from 1882 to 1885, graduating in the latter year. In 1886 he entered the law department of the university, remaining until 1887, when he returned home on account of his father's illness. He practiced law in Montgomery until 1888, when he removed to Anniston, and has since been engaged in the practice of his profession in that city. In 1891 he married Miss Ella A. Herbert, daughter of Col. H. A. Herbert. Mr. Micou has always taken an active interest in politics, and gives his time, influence
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and money to further the interests of the democratic party. He was attor- ney for the city of Anniston from 1888 to 1890. Mr. Micou has made com- mendable progress in his profession for so young an attorney, and has as bright a future as any young attorney in the state.
JOHN S. MOORING, president of the Anniston National bank, was born in Sumter county, Ala., in 1862. He is a son of James A. and Martha A. ( Scott ) Mooring, the former of whom was born in 1840 in North Carolina and came to Alabama in 1841. He and his wife were parents of three children, only one of whom is living, John S. Mooring. James A. Mooring served during the war in the commissary department of the Con federate army and after thewar was over was elected to the legislature from Sumter county, being the first democrat elected from that county after the war. He was a son of John W. Mooring, a farmer by occupation. John S. Mooring was reared in Sumter county, Ala., and removed to Mobile in 1870 with his parents. He at once entered the Mobile schools and in 1874, at the age of twelve years, he entered Emory and Henry college of Virginia and graduated in 1878. He then spent one year at the university of Virginia. In 1879 he was elected professor of mathematics in Bowdoin college, being then only eighteen years of age and the youngest professor in the state. In 1880 he resigned and embarked in the mercantile business at Meridian, Miss., remaining there five years. He then removed to Anniston, and at first accepted a position as book-keeper for the Clifton Iron company, and in January, 1888, he was elected secre- tary and treasurer of the company. This position he resigned in 1890, and in March of that year he was elected chashier of the Anniston National bank, then just organized. On the death of the president of the bank, in May, 1890, he was elected to succeed Mr. S. A. Wood in that position, and he has continued in that place ever since. At that time he was the youngest bank president in the state, being but twenty-eight years old. In 1882 he married Margaret J. Love, daughter of Lorenzo and Sarah A. Love, and to this union there has been born one child, Theodore A. Mrs. Love was born in Marion, Ala., in 1863. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mooring are members of the Baptist church. He is one of Anniston's most progessive citizens and has the universal respect of all who know him.
ELBERT G. MORRIS was born in Stokes county, N. C., in 1820. Was a son of Shadrac and Eunice (Gibson) Morris, both natives of North Carolina. His grandfather was a son of Shadrac and Rebecca (Hutchins) Morris, and his mother was a daughter of William and Eunice (Brown) Gibson. William Gibson was also a native of North Carolina, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. Mrs. Eunice Gibson was a native of South Carolina. William Gibson came to St. Clair county, Alabama, with his family in 1828. Shadrac Morris, the father of the subject of this sketch was a carpenter by trade, and lived with his family near Germanton, N. C., until 1833 when he moved with his family to St. Clair county,.
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Alabama. While in North Carolina he had given his children all the advantages that could be had in the schools of Germanton. Elbert G. Morris came with his father to Alabama in 1833, he being then thirteen years of age. After this time he had no school training to amount to any- thing. The father, after coming to St. Clair county, Alabama, settled in the woods, and after he had cleared out a small farm, he left his family on it, and went to Wetumpka, Ala., and worked there as a carpenter. He served as a justice of the peace many years, raised a large family of children, and, after a long and honorable life on the farm he settled when first coming to the state, he died in September, 1873, at the good old age of seventy five; his wife died the same week. Elbert G. Morris worked on the farm a few years, and, at the age of nineteen years, went to Scottsville, Alabama, and was employed by the owners of a cotton factory at that place to superin- tend the mechanical affairs of the factory, which place he filled to the entire satisfaction of the company for about a year, and then came to the town of Talladega in 1840. Here he contracted for and constructed houses until 1843, when he began a partnership with Lewis Gilbert in the building and repairing of grist mills. This partnership lasted through a number of years, during which time (1846) he married. His wife was Elizabeth Helen Brown, daughter of James and Burnnetta (Suddeth) Brown, both natives of Lincoln county, Ga., who came to Alabama, and settled in Talladega county in 1844. The mother was a daughter of Willis and Edith (Mosely) Suddeth, natives of Virginia. Grandfather Suddeth was a son of Lawrence and Mary Suddeth; great-grandfather Sud- deth was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. To the union of Elbert G. Morris and Elizabeth H. Brown were born ten children, of whom seven are living: Mary C., Elizabeth T., Eunice, Elbert G., Jr., Helen, Lewis J., and John H. Those dead are Shadrac F., Fannie, and Julia. The mother was born in Lincoln county, Ga., in 1821. A year after their mar- riage, in 1847, Mr. Morris bought the place where he now lives, and being a millwright and machinist, erected a flouring mill, and in 1851 he built a machine shop and manufactured sash, doors, and blinds. He also added to his manufactures wagons and buggies. In 1855 he purchased the old Cane creek blast furnace and almost immediately it was burned down. He rebuilt it, however, and continued to make charcoal iron, and ham- mered bar iron until the year 1864, when he sold the irom works to Isaac I. Moses. Up to this time, since the beginning of the Civil war, he had furnished the Confederate government the total output of his furnace. Since his coming to this place (which he built up and named Morrisville) and up to the war, he had continued his business of building both mills and houses, and probably did more building of houses of good class in the towns of Jacksonville and Talladega than anyone else, and had by 1865 amassed quite a fortune in property of various kinds, includ- ing negroes. He had erected, before and after 1865, seven large
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flouring mills at large expense, but the failure to raise wheat caused these all to become practically worthless on his hands and he suffered severe losses in this way. After the Civil war, he continued to follow the business of millwright, and in 1876 invented the turbine water wheel, that is now known by his name. In 1883, his boys being about grown by this time, he built an iron foundry at Morrisville and began' the manufacture of water wheels and mill machinery, with his three youngest sons (Elbert, Lewis and John) as partners, under the firm name of E. G. Morris & Sons. One year after this, this company had the misfortune to have their property destroyed by a waterspout, which fell in April, 1884, causing a loss of over $40,000. The indomitable energy of Mr. Morris never flagged for an instant, and he caused the company to rebuild their works on a better scale than before, and after a few years he sold his interest to his three living sons, and they now continue the business of making the Morris turbine water wheels, together with sawmills, pulleys, shafting, gearing and castings of both iron and brass, under the firm name of Morris Manufacturing Co., Morrisville, Ala. Mr. Morris and wife are both members of the Baptist church, he also being a Mason. He has held no office and never sought any, but has been pre-eminently a builder and developer in his day and generation. Of his offspring, they have married as follows: Mary. C. to the late Dr. C. A. Bates; Elizabeth T. to T. A. Pelham; Shadrac F. to Miss R. Fowler; Fannie to J. E. Williams; Elbert G. to Miss Jennie Yarbrough; Helen to A. J. Smith. Of those who have not married, Eunice is a teacher; Lewis J. a millwright and machinist, a member of the I. O. O. F. and member of the general assembly of Alabama, session of 1892-3; John H., a mechanical engineer, standing at the head in his class of mechanics.
JOHN W. NOBLE, one of the iron men of Alabama, was born in Eng- land, September 29, 1830. He was a son of James and Jenifer (Ward) Noble, both natives of England, who came to the United States in 1837, locating in Pennsylvania, where they remained until 1855. In this year they removed to Rome, Ga., and built the first foundry and machine shop erected in that place. Beside building here the first locomotive ever built in the south, James Noble and his sons built many engines for steamboats, and engines and boilers for all kinds of work also. The rolling mill erected here, mentioned in other places, was used during the war to make horse shoes for the Confederate cavalry. John W. Noble then came to Alabama, and settled at Anniston. He at once built the Anniston car wheel works, of Noble Brothers & Co .; was also a director of the Woodstock Iron Co., composed of the Tyler and Noble families. He was also connected with several other stock companies in Anniston. Dur- ing his connection with the company, the second charcoal furnace was built, also the cotton mill. Then the Woodstock Iron company bought the old Alabama Iron furnace, at Jenifer. The Woodstock Iron company
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laid out the city of Anniston, and built the Anniston Inn, laid out and macadamized the town. It also erected nearly two hundred houses in the city. Afterward the Woodstock Iron company sold out their interests in everything except the furnaces. They then built two coke furnaces, at a cost of half a million of dollars. Mr. Noble built the church of St. Michael and All Angels, in Anniston, a memorial of his father and brother. In 1854, Mr. Noble married Miss Almera Abbott, daughter of William T. and Charlotte (Ede) Abbott, both natives of England. To this marriage there have been born six children: William W., Eliza, George A., Albert E., Ermie C. and Ruth E. Mrs. Noble was born in England, and came to the United States with her parents, in 1844. Both she and her husband are members of the Anglican church. The Noble family was one of the first in Anniston, and has done more than any other family to make Anniston the city that it is. It is also one of the pioneer iron working families in the state. Mr. Noble is now the owner of the Jenifer furnace, at Jenifer, Ala. He began life withont anything, and by his own industry and good management has accumulated a comfortable competency, and is one of the most highly respected citizens of Calhoun county.
JAMES NOBLE, SR, mayor of Anniston, was born in Cornwall county, England, July 28, 1832. He is a son of James and Jenifer (Ward) Noble, both of whom are natives of England, who came to the United States in 1837, locating in Pennsylvania, and remaining there until 1855. They then removed to Rome, Ga., where Mr. Noble built a machine shop and foundry, and where he remained until 1885. He then removed to Ala- bama. James Noble, being a poor man and having a large family to support, was unable to give his children more than a mere common school education. He was the first foreman in the Philadelphia & Read- ing shops, and welded the first railroad locomotive tires ever cut and welded in the United States. James Noble, Sr., son of the above named James Noble, was taken out of school before he was ten years old, and put to work in a tobacco factory, where he worked for fifty cents per week. In 1849, he married Jane Stott, daughter of Jeremiah and Nancy (Holden) Stott, she and both her parents being natives of England. To this marriage there were born nine children, six of whom are still living: Dixon, Jennie, Charles M., Anna, George, and Mary. Mrs. Noble was born in England, and came to this country with her parents in 1835. In 1857, Mr. Noble moved to Rome, Ga., and afterward went to Atlanta, and was foreman in the boiler shops there until 1863. He was city alderman in 1862 and 1863. While at Rome, Mr. James Noble built, in connection with his father and brothers, the first locomotive ever built in the south, which was named the Alfred Shorter, and which drew more troops during the war than any other locomotive in the south. In 1863, he again went to Rome, and in 1864 and 1865, he was mayor of Rome, and was the first chief of the fire department of that city, holding
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the office for three successive terms. In 1873, he returned to Atlanta, and, resumed his old place in the railroad shops where he remained five years. He then established himself in the boiler making business, remain- ing thus engaged in Atlanta four years. In 1877 he removed to Macon, Ga., and remained two years, and came to Alabama, locating in Jenifer, in 1879. Here he assisted in constructing the narrow gauge railroad from Jenifer to Clifton, and was the first engineer on that road. He remained in Jenifer about eighteen months, when he removed to Anniston, Ala., and engaged in the boiler and sheet iron business. He also became a partner in the Anniston foundry and machine shops. He has always been a straight out democrat, and was elected mayor of Anniston, in 1890, for two years. He is a member of the order of Odd Fellows, was made a Mason in 1855, in Pottsville, Pa., and took the royal arch degree, April 15, 1856, and the council degree in Rome, Ga., in 1865. He is also a mem- ber of the order of Elks. He has now (1893) twenty-three grandchildren living. Notwithstanding he began life working at fifty cents per week yet he now is one of the leading citizens of Anniston and has one of the most beautiful homes in the city,
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