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 75
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CLEBURNE COUNTY.
W. H. HOWLE, a prominent business man of Edwardsville, Ala., was born in Cleburne county, in 1849, and is a son of William A., and Sarah E. (Armstrong) Howle. The father was a native of South Carolina, who came to Alabama in 1834 and settled in the wilds of Cleburne county and cleared up a farm, and underwent all the hardships known to a pioneer life. The mother was a daughter of William Armstrong, a native of Georgia, who also came to Alabama about 1834. W. H. Howle was raised on the farm, but never had the advantages of much schooling, as William A., died while W. H. Howle was quite young, and the latter had the care of the family on his hands; the war came on at this time and shut off all chances of further advantages. In 1870 he married Inus E. Rusk, daughter of James T. and Sarah P. (Clemens) Rusk, natives of Georgia. This union has been made happy by the birth of nine children, as follows: Ewell A., William T., Sarah E., Susan C., Beulah, Newton A., Robert H. John C., and an infant. The mother was born in 1854 in Georgia. Mr. Howle served as postmaster at Edwardsville under Grover Cleveland's administration-and has received other marks of public favor. He is a member of the Masonic order, also. He remained on the farm until 1882, when he settled in Edwardsville and engaged in general merchandising-
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business; in 1887 he took in his brother, P. A. Howle, in partnership and since that time they have been extensive cotton dealers and also do an exchange banking business. They are the leading business house of the town, and do a large volume of trade. W. H. Howle is also one of the most prominent democratic politicians of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Howle are members of the Baptist church.
J. B. MERRILL, attorney of Edwardsville, was born in Georgia in 1843, a son of Joseph and Susan (Lamberth) Merrill, both natives of Georgia. The father was a son of Joseph and Maria (Bell) Merrill, both natives of South Carolina. The mother was a daughter of John and Permelia (Gar- rison) Lamberth. The grandfather was one of the pioneer settlers of Tallapoosa county, Ala., and served as tax collector of that county for many years. J. B. Merrill was raised on the farm and attended the com- mon schools of his county, and in the winter of 1860 he entered Irwin college, Tenn., but when the war came on he, in company with about sixty other students, in May, 1861, enlisted in company B, cavalry, under Capt. Wilcoxon. He served as a private until 1862, when he was elected second lieutenant and as such served about one year, when he was made first lieutenant and served eight months, when he became captain of the company and served in that capacity till the close of the war. The first fight of the company was at Cotton Hill, and he also took part in several others among which may be mentioned Sharpsburg, Wilderness, Yellow Tavern, Jack Shop and Gettysburg; he was also with Stuart at the time he went around the Federal forces. After the war he returned home to Georgia and followed the plow for two or three years; in 1866 he began reading law, was admitted to the bar in 1872 and began practice at his old home, where his ability was at once recognized, and where he built up a large practice; in 1886, having by this time large interests in mineral lands in Alabama, he came here to look after the same and settled in Edwardsville, where he now stands at the head of his profession. In 1867 he married Mary Faver, daughter of Sanders and Caroline ( Davis) Faver, both of French descent. This union has been blessed with five children: Walter B., a graduate of Oxford college and now a practicing attorney with his father; Rosa, wife of John W. Abercrombie, and the mother of one child, Myrl; Hugh, Myrtle and Clyde. The mother was born in Georgia. She is a member of the Baptist church and he is a member of the Masonic order. Mr. Merrill has served three years as mayor of Edwardsville, having been elected without any solicitation on his part. He has lately prepared, at a cost of $13,000, to mine gold, owning a large. tract of land which is underlaid with a rich vein of the precious metal.
DR. W. A. NEAL, a rising young physician of Heflin, was born in Georgia in 1858, and is a son of Thomas and Margaret (Ash) Neal, both natives of Georgia. The father was a soldier in the late war. He was a son of William and Evaline (Conley) Neal. The mother was a daughter of Alex. and Miss (McCracklin) Ash, also of Georgia. The doctor was
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-CLEBURNE COUNTY.
reared on the farm and received a common school education, but in 1878 entered the Augusta Medical college and graduated in 1881; he located at Banksville, Ga., and remained until 1883, when he came to Alabama and located at Heflin, where he began the practice of his chosen profes- sion and has since that time built up a large and lucrative practice, to which he added in 1890, the hotel and livery business. In 1886, he mar- ried Ella Pinson, daughter of Mark and Jane (Dianold) Pinson, the father a native of South Carolina and the mother, of Ireland. The father was also a soldier in the late war. To this union, three children were born: Pinson, Clifford and Harrold. The mother was born in Alabama. The doctor is a member of the Presbyterian church and his wife a member of the Baptist. The doctor was once also a member of the I. O. O. F. Grandfather Ash was a soldier in the war of 1812 and the Indian war, and was once a representative of Franklin county, Ga. The doctor came to Alabama with but little money, but has succeeded well and now owns good property and is one of the leading and representative citizens of the county.
BARTLETT OWEN, one of the old pioneers of Cleburne county and ex- probate judge, was born in Spartanburg district, S. C., December 3, 1814, son of Tadens and Jane (Tomison) Owen, bothi natives of South Car- olina. The father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was a son of James and Nancy Owen, of Welsh descent. The mother was of English descent. The judge was reared on the farm. His parents removed to Georgia while he was quite young and he grew to manhood in Franklin county ; being of poor parentage he was forced to leave Georgia and seek a new home. He said to himself "If I remain in Georgia I will be a slave all my life," and in 1835 he came to Alabama to seek his for- tune among the wilds of the unbroken forest. He settled within four miles of Edwardsville, and the first year cleared up about six acres, which he planted in corn, and made his little crop with nothing but the hoe. When he landed in Alabama he had only $1 left, and this dollar he gave to "boot" between an old ax he had for a good one. While mak- ing this crop, all kinds of reports were in circulation about the Indians going to kill all the whites, and he, in common with all other pioneers, would carry his rifle into the field ready for an attack at any time, and in May, 1836, the Indians had become so ferocious that it was unsafe for the whites to sleep in their cabins, and they would gather a few fam- ilies together and lie out in the woods during the night and work their little crops during the day. It was by enduring these hardships and facing the dangerous redskins around him that he made his start in this world. After he had his crop made he traded some of the corn, of which he then had an abundance-for he made fifty bushels to the acre with nothing but the hoe-for an Indian pony, the first horse that he had ever owned. He then entered forty acres of wild land, here cleared up a spot and gave out the word that he wanted to build a house, and his
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neighbors came for miles around to help their brother-pioneer erect the cabin, and it was here in the little log hut, surrounded by Indians and wild game, that the golden moments of his life were spent. February 5. 1834, he married Charlotte Watkins, daughter of John G. and Charity (Davis) Watkins of South Carolina. This union was prolific in the birth of thirteen children, of whom twelve are still living-Charity J., Mary A., Sarah A., Charlotte J., Elizabeth, Nancy, James O., William J., Bart- lett D., John T. and Buchanan. The mother was born in South Caro- lina and both parents are members of the Baptist church. They have in all-children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, 141. Mr. Owen is a. man that had but little education, but has been in pulbic office several years. In 1854, he was tax assessor of Calhoun county, and served con- tinuously seven years, and in 1861 he was elected sheriff of Calhoun county. but resigned after serving one and a half years only. In 1874 he was elected probate judge of Cleburne county and served six years; in 1886, he was again elected to the same office, his time expiring No- vember 1, 1892. The judge has been a father to Cleburne county. He is one of the solid old citizens and has the entire confidence of his con- stituents. Although he is an uneducated man, but few of his decisions have been reversed.
COFFEE COUNTY.
JOSEPHUS D. BLUE, M. D., physician and surgeon, at Elba, Ala. was born here 1856. He is the son of Dr. Josephus P. and Eva. (Grimes) Blue, the former of whom was born in North Carolina in 1824, and the latter in 1832. Both received a liberal education, and when quite young came to Alabama with their respective parents, and settled in Pike county. After marriage they came to Elba in 1850, where Dr. Blue practiced medicine until his death in 1851. He obtained his medical edu cation in Charleston, S. C., was one of the successful physicians of his day, was very much devoted to his profession, stood high in society and was a very prominent man. His father was Archibald Blue, a native of North Carolina, but who came to Pike county, Ala., and lived there a good many years. Later he removed to Coffee county and died there in 1856. Josephus D. Blue was the eldest of a family of three sons and four daughters, by his father's first marriage, viz. : Josephus D., Fannie, widow of Jordan Brooks; John, died in infancy; Margaret, wife of W. M. Farris; Kate, Mollie and Eva K., died when young. The mother of these children died in 1868, and the father married again, having by the second marriage one son and three daughters Jennie, Willie, Robert, and Gipsey. Dr. J. D. Blue began life for himsels at the age of twenty, by working on a farm. He then became a clerk in a store in Elba, then at Troy. He was then in business with Parker Bros. one year, then he and Jordan Brooks were together in business one year,.
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
after which he continued business on his own account. He had, during these years, read medicine to as good an adavntage as possible and in 1882-3 attended Louisville medical college, and has, since leaving that institution, practiced medicine with success among the people with whom he was raised. He has now an extensive practice, is a member of the State Medical association and is president of the Coffee County Medical society. Beside his medical profession he has planting interests and gives considerable attention to the raising of corn, cotton, etc. He was married in 1885, to Miss Lela, daughter of Benjamin D. Lee of Elba, a farmer who served in the late war. Mrs. Blue was born in Elba and died. in 1886. The doctor was married the second time in 1889, to Miss Ada Harper, daughter of James W., and Kate Harper of Bullock county, and by this marriage has two sons. Dr. Blue has been engaged in the drug business, and been burned out several times. He belongs to Elba lodge, No. 170, F. & A. M., has served as senior warden, and belongs to one of the best and most highly respected families of Elba.
DANIEL T. BOWDOIN, planter of Beat No. 6, Coffee county, Ala., was born in Stewart county, Ga., in 1840. He is a son of Turner and Rebecca (Maddox) Bowdoin, natives probably of Monroe county, Ga., where they were reared and educated and whence they removed to Stewart county. About 1855, they moved to Coffee county, Ala., and lived there until about 1880, when they removed to Texas, where they both died in 1890, aged about ninety years. They were both Methodists. Mr. Bowdoin was a blacksmith, wood worker, etc., and also a farmer. He was very industrious and accumulated a good deal of property, but lost heavily in slaves on account of the war. He was one of a large family reared by William Bowdoin, who died in Georgia and who was one of the early settlers. Daniel T. Bowdoin was the fifth of eleven children, viz. : Eme- line S., widow of S. W. Stevson; Eli O., of Crenshaw county, who served in company K, Twenty-fifth Alabama infantry, from 1862 until the close of the war, being wounded once; John and William, twins, were both in the same company in the army; John lost an arm at Chatta- nooga, and William died after the war; Benjamin, deceased; Octavia, deceased, wife of William H. H. Donelson; Laura, deceased; Dora, wife of William Taylor of Texas; Trambrona; Robert; and Jane, wife of Will- jam Brown of Texas. Daniel T. Bowdoin, was reared on a farm, received a limited education, and married at eighteen years of age, in 1858, Miss Tempa A. Mills, whose parents were in all probabilty South Carolinians, . but who died at Memphis, Tenn., when Tempa A. was a girl. She was born in Pike county, Ala., where her parents lived a short time. She is the mother of ten children, viz .: James Thomas, died in infancy; Sarah Victoria, died while young; General Washington; John C .; Daniel Theo- dore; Josephus; Turner Monroe; Rebecca; Francis, and one that died in infancy. Mr. Bowdoin has lived near Elba ever since he has been in Ala-
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
bama. In August. 1862, he joined company K, Twenty-fifth Alabama in- fantry, and served with Gen. Bragg in the Kentucky campaign, and was in the battle of Murfreesboro, the only general battle in which he was engaged, but he was in many skirmishes. He was struck by a shell at Murfreesboro in the left leg, and at Chattanooga he became so afflicted that he was furloughed home. He did no more active service in the war, and from the wound he has never recovered. He has, however, since returning home performed considerable labor on the farm, and has fol- lowed farming all his life. He now resides three miles north of Elba, where he has a farm of nearly 2,000 acres, of which about 1,000 are in the home tract, the rest being scattered and some of it being pine tim- bered lands. He has acquired it all by hard labor and good management. Upon this farm he is engaged in raising general supplies and cotton. Mrs. Bowdoin is a Methodist Protestant. Mr. Bowdoin is not a politi- cian, but he liberally supports the democratic party, notwithstanding he was reared a whig.
J. PINCKNEY BRUNSON, general merchant and postmaster at Victoria, was born in Lincoln county, Ga., April 23, 1839. He was a son of Mat- thew and Sarah (Blanchard) Brunson, also natives of what is now Lin- coln county, Ga., where they were liberally educated, were married, and whence they removed in 1842 to what is now Lee county, Ala., locating near the present site of Auburn. Mr. Brunson was one of those who named the town. He improved a good farm, upon which he lived until 1853, when he removed to Coffee county, for the purpose of purchasing more land for his children. He bought a long tract on the Pea river, about nine miles above Elba, where he opened up a good farm upon which he spent the rest of his life, dying in 1877 at the age of seventy- two. His widow is still living and is now seventy-two years old. Mr. Brunson was a very progressive and prosperous man. He was a man of rare attainments, cultured and courteous and was very prominent in local matters. He was extremely well informed, was a great reader, and profound thinker. He belonged to a very prominent family and was very retired in his habits. One of his brothers, Dr. T. W. Brunson, now of Society Hill, Macon county, is one of the most distinguished physi- cians of the state, and has been in active practice in Macon county for more than forty years. Another brother, Rev. L. H. Brunson, who came to Coffee county, before the late Civil war, was a prominent Baptist min- . ister for many years. He died in 1877. Their father was from Edge- field district, S. C., but removed to what is now Lincoln county, Ga., at a very early day, and died there before J. Pinckney's recollection. He was of French ancestry and served in the Revolutionary war. Grand- father Blanchard died in 1857, at Union Springs, Ala., while on a visit. His wife died in Lincoln county, Ga., aged ninety years. J. Pinckney Brunson is the eldest of five sons and two daughters, viz: the subject; Matthew, who served for about two years on the Florida coast, during
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS- COFFEE COUNTY.
the late war; Anna, deceased wife of La Fayette Morgan; Silas, who served in the Home Guards about a year; E. G., Sallie, wife of La Fay- ette Morgan; John F. Mr. J. P. Brunson was reared on the farm with a good English education. When quite young he left school to take charge of his father's affairs which he managed until the war. In April, 1862, he joined company K, thirty-seventh Alabama infantry, or- ganized at Auburn, spent a few months in drilling at Columbus, Miss., and then fought at Iuka, Corinth and in the Mississippi campaign with General Van Dorn. He was in the defense of Vicksburg and remained there about a month after the surrender as ward master and took away the last of the sick and wounded, going via New Orleans to Fort Morgan, and turned them over to the Mobile hospital and then went home. He soon after rejoined his command and was one of the first to open fire on Lookout Mountain. Here he was captured, but made his escape and the next day was wounded in the battle of Missionary Ridge. He was taken to the Montgomery hospital, where he remained two months, after which he re- joined the regiment at Dalton and fought all through the Alabama cam- paign except the last few days, when he was ordered to Mobile and there built Spanish fort, where he remained until a short time before the final surrender, when he went to North Carolina in time to participate in the battle of Bentonville and to surrender with Johnston. After the war he resumed farming and in 1867 he married Salome R., daughter of James F. and Patience Coleman, natives of Georgia, near Atlanta, whence they removed to Bullock county, and in 1857 came to Coffee county where Mr. Coleman died in 1868, his wife dying at Fort Gaines in 1892, both being members of the Baptist church. Mr. Coleman was a wealthy planter and of a very aristocratic and cultured family. They had two sons in the late war-Thomas, who was with Gen. John Morgan and S. D., now a wealthy planter and merchant of Ft. Gaines, Ga. Mrs. Brunson was born in what is now Bullock county and has eight child- ren, viz: Thaddeus W., Anna, Eula, wife of John Faust, Patience, Wil- lie, James, Gurtie Lee and John Franklin. About four years after the war Mr. Brunson located in Victoria, where he has since been engaged in merchandising and during a considerable portion of the time has been postmaster. He owns about 500 acres of land in different tracts. He has spared neither pains nor expense to educate his children, and, in order that he might the more thoroughly educate them and keep them at home, he erected a school house at his own expense at Victoria. While Mr. Brunson is not a politician he is an active supporter of his party. Both he and his wife have been members of the Missionary Baptist church for many years. He has the first piano that was brought to Coffee county, hauling it from Montgomery in a wagon. From this brief sketch, it is evident that Mr. Brunson's family is among the prosperous and prom- inent ones of Coffee county.
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
JOHN HENRY CARMICHAEL, general merchant and farmer, of Enter- prise, was born in Sumter county, Ga., in 1847. He came with his. parents to Coffee county when but a child, was reared on the farm, and remained with them until he was twenty-six years old. He then, in 1873, married Josephine E., daughter of James L. and Eliza (Brown) Car- michael, natives of Georgia, whence they moved to Coffee county in 1854, where they are still living. Mr. Brown is now a merchant at Haw Ridge, Ala. He served in the home guards during the war. Mrs. Carmichael was born in Coffee county and has six children, all living. After mar- riage, Mr. Carmichael lived in the vicinity of Haw Ridge until 1882, when he settled where he now resides. He was the first to settle in the neigh- borhood, the land having been previously considered unproductive, but. he soon established a contrary opinion and was followed by others from different parts until now this part of the county is one of the most popu- lous portions. Mr. Carmichael has now a fine farm of some 680 acres, mostly valuable timber lands. In 1885 he established Enterprise post- office and was made postmaster. Since 1887 he has conducted a general store and is now doing a good business. He is one of the foremost busi- ness men of this county and, though somewhat retired in disposition, takes considerable interest in public affairs. Mr. Carmichael is the fourth of six sons and two daughters, viz .: Mary; Daniel and Joseph, both in com- pany K, Thirty-third Alabama, and both killed in the charge on Atlanta, July 22nd, 1864; John Henry; Norman, deceased; Gilbert, deceased; Charles and Nancy J., deceased wife of Simeon Fields. John M. Car- michael is the father of these children. He was born in Marion district, S. C., in 1817, and was a son of John C. and Margaret (Morrison) Car- michael, the former born in Scotland in 1785 and the latter in North Carolina. Mr. Carmichael was brought to this country by his parents when he was seven years old, was married in South Carolina, and after. ward removed to Sumter county, Ga., where he died in 1857, aged seventy-two years. His father died in South Carolina. Daniel Morrison, the maternal grandfather of John Henry Carmichael, was probably a native of North Carolina and died in that state. Mr. Carmichael, father of our subject, came to Georgia with his parents and married in 1839, Sarah, daughter of Palmer and Mary Hayes, natives of South Carolina, but who died, the former in Georgia and the latter in Florida. Mrs. Carmichael is the mother of eight children, of whom two sons and one daughter are living. In 1853 Mr. Carmichael came to Coffee county and settled upon the farm upon which he has since lived. He has been a Mason for more than fifty years, and they have both been prominent Methodists nearly all their lives. The latter has always beeu in delicate health. Mr. Carmichael served in the home guards during the war and was once county commissioner for four years. He is universally esteemed for his honesty of purpose and general good character.
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
WILLIAM H. CHAPMAN, M. D., retired physician and surgeon, living near Elba, was born in that portion of Pike county that is now Crenshaw county, April 19, 1852. He is a son of Hon. John D. and Mary H. (Anderson) Chapman, the former a native of Georgia and the latter of South Carolina. They each received a liberal education, and married in Georgia, and in about 1847 removed to Alabama. They lived a few years in Wetumpka and then in what is now Crenshaw county, where Mr. Chapman died, March 11, 1884. When he removed to Crenshaw county he settled in the woods and improved his farm. For some years he lived in Covington county, which he represented in the legislature in 1866-67, and introduced the measure which established Crenshaw county and in which county he spent the rest of his life. He was quite a prominent and active citizen. He was very popular and was a general adviser and counselor in his neighborhood for many years. For some years he was justice of the peace and was a great church and temperance worker. He was a member of the Missionary Baptist church for many years and a prom- inent Mason. His father, Benjamin Chapman, died in Georgia many years ago, when the family separated, some of the children going to Arkansas. Supra Anderson, the maternal grandfather of Mr. Chapman, was proba- bly born in South Carolina, whence he removed to Georgia and came with Mr. Chapman to Alabama, dying in Crenshaw county about 1868, his wife having died about 1852. Both were members of the Baptist church, and reared a family of five sons and one daughter. Mrs. Chap- man is still living, aged sixty-six. She is the mother of seven children, viz. : John Henry, who served in the Home Guards during the latter part of the war, operating in southern Alabama and Mississippi; he now lives in Andalusia: Sarah E., wife of Dr. E. H. Johnson, of Troy; William H., Dr. Robert B., a dentist, of Troy, Ala .; Anna, wife of Judge Malachi Riley, probate judge of Covington county, Ala .; Mary, wife of P. N. Hickman, attorney, of Elba; Dr. Abner R., a practicing physician of Geneva, and a graduate of Vanderbilt university, of Nashville, Tenn. Mr. William H. Chapman received his early education in the schools near the farm upon which he was raised. He afterward attended Auburn col- lege, and then read medicine with Dr. E. H. Johnson, then at Rutledge, in 1871, and 1872 he attended the medical department of the Washington university at Baltimore, graduating in 1873 from Mobile college. His first year's practice was at Leon, Crenshaw county, then in Butler county until 1878, and then he removed to Elba, where he had an extensive practice until 1884, when he retired on account of ill health. He then lived two years at Troy engaged in the milling business and has since lived on his farm, five and a half miles northeast of Elba, where he owns 440 acres of good land. Here he does a neighborhood practice in connection with farming. He is a member of the State Medical associa- tion and of the Coffee county Medical society, of which he was secretary for some years. He is a member of Elba lodge, No. 170, F. & A. M.,
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