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 77
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county. She is a sister of Dr. R. B. Chapman of Troy, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. She was educated in Crenshaw county, and at Greenville, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Hickman is a member of the Baptist church, and W. M. of Elba lodge, F. & A. M., No. 170, and is junior grand deacon of the grand lodge of Alabama. While he is not a politician nor an aspirant for political honors, yet he works for the success of his party. He was a delegate to the state convention. in 1930, that nominated Governor O'Neal. He is a man of good practical ideas, and a man of judgment and influence throughout his county.
BENJAMIN A. HILL, M. D., physician and surgeon of Elba, was born in Greene county, Ga., in 1833. He is a son of Abner R. and Minerva H. (High) Hill, the former of whom was born in Brunswick county, Va., in 1808, and the latter in Greene county, Ga., in 1812. Abner R. Hill was reared on a farm and received but a limited education, while Mrs. Hill received no education at all. He came when a young man to Georgia, and married here, and in 1851 removed to Chambers county, Ala. He removed to Pike county in 1834, and to Texas in 1874, remaining there until his death in 1887, which occurred, however, while he was on a visit to Troy. He was a natural mechanic and a wealthy farmer until the war, when he lost his property, which consisted mostly in slaves. He served in the Indian war in 1836, and was a Mason for many years. Both he and wife were prominent members of the Missionary Baptist church. His father, Abner Hill, was a Virginian by birth, as also Abner Hill's wife. She died in Virginia, and after her death he came to Alabama and died here in 1855. He was a farmer by occupation. was of English and Scotch descent, and was of the same family as the distinguished Hills of Georgia. John High, the maternal grandfather of the doctor, was a native of Georgia, in which state he lived and died. He left a family of sons and daughters, some of whom are now prominent in Atlanta, Ga. The mother of the doctor died in 1844, and his father married again, and reared a family by his second wife. The doctor was the eldest of six children by his first wife; after him came Beverly, who died when young; Sarah, wife of Thomas K. Brantley of Troy; Mary, deceased; Susan, deceased: Virginia, deceased. The subject of our sketch was raised on a farm with good educational advantages. In 1851, when but eighteen years old, he married Adeline, daughter of Jefferson and Amanda Comer, natives of Georgia, whence they moved to Chambers county, Ala. Mr. Comer served two terms of enlistment in the Mexican war, and died from the effects of his service in that cause. His widow is still living. Mrs. Hill was born in Georgia and died in 1868, leaving four children, viz. : Abner R., deceased; Cassandra, wife of Lovaga Hill of Troy; Alberta C., wife of John E. Law of Texas; and James B. of Pike County. In 1868 Dr. Benjamin A. Hill married Mrs. Elizabeth Allen, née Vincent. She was a native of Coosa county, Ala., and died in 1871. The doctor then, in 1871, married
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PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY. 669
Mrs. Eliza Carpenter, daughter of James Turner. She was born in Stewart county, Ga. In 1855 Mr. Hill began the study of medicine with Dr. James M. Gunn, of Fredonia, Ala. In 1856 and 1857 he attended the Graffenburg Medical college in Tallapoosa county, now extinct. He then attended the Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia in 1859-60. He graduated from Richmond, Va., Medical college, and practiced medicine in Chambers county one year, and then he removed to Montgomery county. In 1871 he went to Texas and remained there six years, when he returned to Troy and remained there until 1884, when he came to Elba, where he has since continued his practice. In 1878 he was admitted to practice law in Houston, Tex., and he has practiced that profession more or less, successfully, ever since. In May, 1862, he joined the Thirty-seventh Alabama infantry, company K, as a private soldier, but was made assistant surgeon till his eye-sight failed in 1864, when he re- turned home. This regiment was commanded by Col. James F. Dowell, and served under Gen. Sterling Price. The doctor's first engagemnt was at Iuka, Miss., then he was in the Mississippi campaign, and from Grenada, Miss., he was sent to Mobile, Ala., with some invalid soldiers, he having been previously appointed assistant surgeon and inspector-general of the hospitals in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. He was on duty in that capacity in those states during the siege of Vicksburg, in the defense of which city the regiment-was engaged. Upon his arrival home he was made colonel of the Pike county reserves and had charge of the hospital at Troy. Since the close of the war he has been notary public and ex- officio justice of the peace for many years. He has also been a druggist, hotel keeper, a farmer, etc. He is now secretary of the Coffee county Medical society and has been county health officer for many years. He is a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and-while he is an active worker in the democratic party, yet he is not a politician in the ordinary sense of the word.
REDIN HOLLOWAY, planter of Beat No. 9, Coffee county, Ala., was born in Houston county, Ga., in 1833. He is the son of Charles and Mary J. (Sanderson) Holloway, the former a native of Georgia, the lat- ter a native of North Carolina. Mrs. Holloway came to Georgia with her parents, where she and Mr. Holloway received a common school educa- tion. They married there, and in 1840 removed to Coffee county, Ala., settling in the woods near Elba, and there Mr. Holloway. spent the rest of his life, dying in 1862. Mrs. Holloway is still living at the age of seventy-five years. Mr. Holloway was a well-to-do farmer, and a hard- working and industrious man. He was one of twelve children born to Jeremiah Holloway, an Englishman, who came to Coffee county in 1841, and both he and wife died there before the war. Both were mem- bers of the Primitive Baptist church. One son, Griffin Holloway, was killed at Harper's Ferry, in Virginia. Dr. John Anderson, the maternal grandfather of Redin Holloway, was probably a South Carolinian by
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birth, whence he removed to Georgia, and in 1842 to Coffee county, where he and his wife both died He was a physician and surgeon for many years, and raised three sons and three daughters, two of the sons serv- ing in the late war, Shepherd and Benjamin F. Redin Holloway is the eldest of ten sons and one daughter, viz .: Redin, John, who served in the Virginia army all through the war, now deceased; Thomas, who served in the western army from the first until in 1862, when he was dis- charged on account of disability, and died at home; William, who served in an Alabama regiment all through the war in Virginia, and who was captured at Gettysburg, but who was not imprisoned. now deceased; Benjamin, deceased; David, who was in the western army all through the war, was wounded in his last fight in North Carolina, now living in Texas; Charles, of Texas; Jeremiah, of Texas; Joseph and Solomon, twins, both deceased; Abigail, died when young. Redin Holloway began life on the farm, with a good English education. At the age of twenty. one he began life on his own account, as a hand in the logging business in Florida, worked thus a short time, and then returned to Coffee county and engaged in farming and teaming, hauling from Montgomery, Eufaula, Columbia, Milton, Fla., etc., to Elba for several years. In 1859 he was married, in Covington county, to Amanda, daughter of William and Mahala Jones, natives of Georgia, whence they removed to Coffee county, Ala., where they both died. He was a prosperous farmer, raised a large family, and had four sons in the late war. all of whom survive. Mrs. Holloway was born in Georgia, and is the mother of seven children, three of whom are living. Those who are living are as follows: Mary E., wife of Alfred Seay; Nina Texarkana, wife of Augustus Wise, and Ida, wife of James Killcrease. Those who are deceased were: Charles F., Abigail and William, died in Morgan county, Ala., and Louler, died in Mississippi, all dying when young. In March, 1862, Mr. Holloway joined company A, Thirty-third Alabama infantry, fighting first in Perryville, Ky. He then fought at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and all the way down to Atlanta, and was captured July 22, 1864, and was imprisoned at Camp Chase from August 2, 1864, to March 4, 1865, during which time he was ward master of the sick and fared well. He reached home April 2, and has followed farming ever since. From 1865 to 1877 he lived in Morgan county, Ala., and then in Tate county, Miss., four years. He then traveled in Florida for one year, when he returned to Coffee county, six miles east of Elba, where he has 400 acres of land, all of which he has acquired by his own efforts since the war. He has been a Mason many years, and is a member of the Central alliance. Both he and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist church.
CAPTAIN NOAH O. HUTCHISON, a prominent planter of Beat No. 12, Coffee county, Ala., was born here in 1841. He is a son of Hon. Lewis and Caroline (Cole) Hutchison, the former of whom was probably born
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in North Carolina, and went with his parents to Georgia at an early day, and subsequently came to Coffee county, Ala. Before his marriage he settled on the place where the captain now lives, which he improved and made a good farm, and upon which he spent the rest of his days, dying in September, 1865. He was a successful farmer and accumulated a valuable property. He was a man of more than average enterprise and ability, and represented Dale and Coffee counties in the state senate with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. His father, Lewis Hutchison, was probably a North Carolinian by birth, whence he removed to south Georgia at an early day, while the Indians were still in the country .. He was thus one of the first settlers in this county and became familiar with the customs and habits of the Indians. He was a prosper- ous farmer and died in 1868. Thomas Cole, the maternal grandfather of the captain, was also one of the first settlers in this county, spent his life here and died in the winter of 1865 -- 66. He was a man of good repu- tation, was perhaps the wealthiest man in the county, and was married twice, the second time during the war. He was the father of five chil- dren. The mother of the captain was probably born in this county, was the mother of ten children, nine sons and one daughter, was a member of the Missionary Baptist church, and died January 2, 1876. Noah O. Hutchison was the second in the family, the names of the children being as follows: Missouri, wife of J. T. Knight of Greenville, Ala .; Noah O .; Julian P. was in the eighteenth Alabama, in the Tennessee army a short time and then on the coast for nearly two years; Thomas; William C .; Daniel C., died during the war; Lewis P .; Lorenzo R., and Costello Barto. In the summer of 1861 Noah O. joined company A, eighteenth Alabama infantry, as a private soldier. At Corinth he first had a taste of real war, and then went through the Kentucky campaign, fought at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, through the Atlanta campaign and back with Hood to Nashville; on the retreat to Mississippi' was in the siege of Spanish Fort, but escaped to Mobile, the night before the sur- render, and went to Demopolis and surrendered at Meridian, Miss. He was neither wounded nor captured during the war, although he was in many severe battles. He served as third sergeant, first sergeant, second . lieutenant, first lieutenant, and after the battle at Chickamauga, in which his captain died of wounds, he was promoted to the captaincy. Joseph Harper was his captain, and he was one of the bravest soldiers in the war. During the battle of Shiloh, Captain Harper was shot through the thigh, and although his regiment was not in the battle the second day, he fought in a Tennessee regiment. After the war Captain Hutchison engaged in farming, and in October, 1867, he married Fannie, daughter of William and Catherine Walker, who removed from Georgia to Coffee county a good many years before. They are both still living. Mrs. Hutchison was born in Georgia and is the mother of eight children, six of whom are living.
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
With the exception of about six years, two of which were spent at Clin- 'tonville, for the purpose of educating his children, Mr. Hutchison has spent his life on the farm upon which he was born, four and a half miles north of Clintonville. Here he has a fine farm of 409 acres. He is one of the foremost citizens of the county, and is widely and favorably known. He spares no pains nor expense in educating his children, and in further- ing their social progress. He was formerly a Mason, and both himself and wife are members of the Primitive Baptist church.
WILLIAM JASON HUTCHISON, planter of Beat No. 6, was born in Clin- tonville, Coffee county, December 27, 1848. His mother was Martha Hutchison, now Mrs. J. H. Walker, of Crenshaw county, and her father was William Hutchison, who was probably a native of Georgia, born in 1812, but who came with his parents to what is now Coffee county, where he married Hettie Mills, who came here about the same time. After his marriage he settled about twelve miles below Elba, in the woods, where he improved a farm, afterward removing to near Clinton- ville. After his children all married and established homes of their own he lived among them and died in Pike county about 1837, but was buried near Clintonville. He was a great stock man, and a good farmer, and a man of no little prominence in the community. He is believed to have been the first sheriff of Coffee county and was once clerk of the circuit court. He held other positions of honor, and was a man of a great deal of information. He was a public-spirited man, was well known and ac- cumulated considerable property. He was one of three sons and one daughter. all of whom lived and died in Coffee county. Their father, Lewis Hutchinson, was porbably a Virginian and came to what is now Coffee county in 1827, being one of the first white settlers in the vicinity. Here he lived for nearly forty years, dying in 1866. He was married three times, his first wife being the mother of the children, and she also died here. The subject's grandmother, Mrs. Hettie Hutchison, is still living, aged eighty-three years. She lived for some years among the Indians, and became quite familiar with their customs, habits and lan- guage. She is the mother of ten children, viz .: Mahala, who was the * wife of A. J. Simmons, and who died in 1892; Rebecca, wife of Josiah Snyder of Pike county; Martha, wife of J. H. Walker of Bullock, Cren- shaw county; and the mother of our subject; Jefferson, a private soldier of the Eighteenth Alabama infantry, killed at the battle of Corinth; Dixon who served in the cavalry in the extreme south during the war, and who lives in Mississippi; Hettie, wife of Dallas Rudd of Texas; Edith, deceased wife of Henry Lightfoot; Sarah, wife of John Linsey of Texas; Mollie, wife of John Lewis of Texas, and Almira, deceased wife of E. W. Rusk. William J. Hutchison was reared on a farm with but limited education, and at nineteen began life for himself. The first year he worked on a farm, and then went into business at Clintonville. The next year, 1871, he married Rebecca, daughter of Greene Rowell, a
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South Carolinian, who came to Tallapoosa county, Ala., many years ago, where he and his wife died when Mrs. Hutchinson was a little girl. Mrs. Hutchison was born in Tallapoosa county, and has eight children, viz. : Steiner L .; Horace N .; Lucy Hunter; Mollie Belle; Lena May; Mertie Lou; Willie Lee, and Minnie Pearl. Mr. Hutchison lived near Clintonville a short time, and in 1875 he moved to his present farm, five miles north of Elba, where he owns five hundred and eighty acres of land, about one hundred and sixty acres of which is cleared. Upon this farm he raises cotton and general supplies. In 1878 he was elected tax collector and served four years; during which time he lived at Elba. He is a member of White Water Alliance, No. 1053, of which he is busi- ness manager. Both himself and wife are members of the Methodist church at Elba. Mr. Hutchison belongs to one of the oldest families of Coffee county, and is one of its most prominent and substantial citizens. He has never been known to shirk a duty because it was unpleasant. He is well known and highly esteemed by all.
CAPTAIN MOSES J. LEE, planter of Beat No. 3. was born in Greene county, Ga., in 1830. He is a son of Charles S. and Elizabeth (Broughton) Lee, both of whom were natives of Greene county, Ga., the former born in 1804, the latter in 1802. They were both fairly well educated, married in their native county, and in 1835 moved to Chambers county, Ala., but the rest of the family crossed the river into Georgia to escape the ravages of the Indians. Mr. Lee remained and assisted in the Indian war. After a few years Mr. and Mrs. Lee removed to what is now Bullock county, where they remained until 1850 and then removed to Coffee county, settling about four miles south of Elba, and there owned a good farm. They afterward removed to Elba, where they spent the rest of their lives, Mr. Lee dying January 11, 1875, and Mrs. Lee in 1884. She was for many years a member
of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Lee was an enterprising and progressive man, and accumulated a good deal of property, but he lost heavily during the war. He was very popular and often urged to accept office, but he as often refused. He was a jolly and genial gentleman, liberal and hospitable. He was one of a large family born to William Lee, a native of Virginia and belonging to the distin- guished Lee family of that state. He removed from Virginia to Greene county, Ga., where he died when Moses J. was a small boy. He served in the Revolutionary war and was twice married, his first wife being the grandmother of Moses J. Lee. John H. Broughton, the maternal grand- father of Moses J. was a South Carolinian, where he married and whence he removed to Greene county, Ga. Here he died when Moses J. was a young man. He also served in the Revolutionary war, was a farmer and reared a large family. Moses J. Lee was the oldest of five sons and five daughters, viz. : Moses J. ; Mary, deceased wife of James Larkins, also deceased; Captain Charles S. of Broughton, a merchant, who has
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served as sheriff, treasurer and representative from Coffee county. He had served in the war as first lieutenant in the First Alabama cavalry and then as captain of a company in Clanton's cavalry until the close of the war; Cordelia, widow of Judge P. D. Costello, who was probate judge of Coffee county, which office he left to become captain of com- pany A, Eighteenth Alabama. He was killed at Murfreesboro; Luti- cia, wife of Captain C. M. Cox; Dr. William J., of Abbeville, a practic- ing physician. He was capain of company K, Thirty-third Alabama. regiment, and was severely wounded in the right arm at Perryville, Ky., which disabled him for ilfe; John H., a farmer near Greenville, was a lieutenant in his brother's Charles' company all through the war; Ed- ward D., of Elba, was lieutenant of company K, Thirty-third Alabama regiment, and promoted on the field for gallant conduct, having served in the ranks; Victoria, widow of Captain J. E. F. Flournoy, who was a captain of cavalry in the war, serving about one year, and who held several prominent official positions, and was a prominent lawyer, of Elba, now deceased; Lena, deceased wife of Henry Armerine, of Montgomery, who is a merchant. Moses J. Lee was reared on a farm, given a com- mon school education, and later studied at La Grange Male college. He began life for himself at twenty years of age as a clerk in what is now Bullock county. He was then in the collecting business for a short time after which he began farming, a vocation he has followed ever since. He has also at different times been in the mercantile business. In 1862 he married Georgia A., daughter of James M. and Patience Coleman, natives of Wilkes and Morgan counties respectively. When Mrs. Lee was still a little girl they came to what is now Bullock county, in about .1844, and . in 1860 came to Coffee county, where Mr. Coleman died about 1868, his widow dying in 1892 in Gainesville, Ga. Mr. Coleman in his life was a merchant and later became a wealthy planter, losing heavily through the war. Mrs. Lee was born in Morgan county, Ga., but was educated and married at Union Springs, Ala. She has had ten children, eight of whom are now living. Their names are as follows: Charles S., Robert E., Moses J., Lillie, deceased, William J., Mary, John C., deceased, Jack D., Edward Lamar, and Anna. Captain Lee was anxious to enter the service of the Confederate states early in the war, but as all his brothers and several of his brothers-in-law were already in that service, he was persuaded to remain at home and look after the family, but later he was called into the state service and commanded a company which performed provost duty among other things. Since the war he has lived on a farm five miles north of Elba, where he owns some five or six thousands acres of good land, some of it very fine pine timbered land. This he has purchased in small pieces at different times, and has acquired it all by his own efforts. He is one of the largest land owners in the county. Notwithstanding that he has never aspired to political honors nor has taken an active part in politics in any way, yet he liberally
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supports his party and is one of the most popular men of the county. His family is one of prominence and many of them have been and are of much more than ordinary ability and influence.
BARZILLI H. MIXSON, a prominent planter of Beat No. 9, was born in Monroe county, Ga., October 1, 1835. He is a son of William and Julia (Harris) Mixson, natives of Beaufort county, N. C. Mr. Mixson's parents died when he was a boy and he was in part reared by an uncle, but started out early in life for himself. He worked in Georgia for a few years and then returned to North Carolina, where he married, and after- ward returned to Georgia, where he followed blacksmithing till 1853, when he came to Coffee county, settling near Pea river, in the eastern part of the county. Here he was engaged in farming till his death, which occurred about 1882, aged about seventy years. He was famous for his integrity and honesty. He was a liberal supporter of churches and schools and a hard worker in Sunday schools. His wife was a member of the Methodist church for many years. His great-grandfather was English, and came to this country at an early day, and fought through the Revolutionary war. The mother of B. H. Mixson is still living. She was the only daughter, but had two brothers who went west many years ago, since when she has never heard anything of them. Mr. B. H. Mixson is the fourth of ten children. He was reared on the farm and had a good academic education. At the age of nineteen he began life for himself as a farm hand, working by the year. In 1858, he married Melinda, daughter of Isaiah and Rebecca Stokes, the former a native of South Carolina, and the latter of Georgia, but who came when very young to Alabama, where they spent the rest of their lives, he dying in 1874, and she in 1885. Mrs. Mixson was born in Coffee county, and died in 1883, leaving ten children, all of whom are still living. In 1886, Mr. Mixson married Mrs. Myron Beard, daughter of John W. and Martha A. Harper, natives of Clarke county, Ga., the former born in 1818, and the latter in 1819. He came to Coffee county as a pioneer and was one of the prominent men of the county. Mr. Harper died in 1888, and his wife in 1880. Mrs. Mixson was born in Georgia, and has had one son by Mr. Beard. In August, 1861, Mr. Mixson joined company H, Fifty-third Alabama mounted infantry, serving nearly through the war under Gen. Wheeler, mostly on detached duty. The first two years he operated in the Tennessee valley, then in the Georgia campaign, and at Atlanta, where he was cut off from his command. He and a comrade went to the house of the latter, in west Georgia, where they manufactured a bogus furlough for Mr. Mixson, and he came home, and, remaining but a short time, returned to his command, which followed Sherman to the sea. He fought at the battle of Camden. After the war, he lived some years in Dale county, working very hard, and accumulating a handsome property. He now has. a good farm of eight hundred acres on Pea river, six miles above Elba. The brothers and sisters of Mr. Mixson are Mary, deceased wife of Pate
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