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 78
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131
676
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
Edge; Nancy, wife of George Hayes, of Dale county . William C .; Jane, widow of Joshua Lee, of Texas; Caroline died when a young lady; Jose- phus; John, Marion, Julia, died young, and Sophia, also deceased.
WILLIAM C. MIXSON, a prominent farmer of Beat No. 12, was born in Monroe county, Ga., September 2, 1834. He is a son of William and Julia (Harris) Mixson, natives of North Carolina, in which state they were reared and where they married. They removed to Georgia about 1832, and in 1833 removed to Coffee county, Ala., settling on an improve- ment where Mr. Mixson died in October 9, 1880. His widow is still living, at the age of about eighty years. Both were Methodists from their youth up. Mr. Mixson was a farmer, a wagon maker, a blacksmith, etc. He was a hard-working, industrious and prosperous man. His father, Elijah Mixson, died when the former was a child, was of English descent and was probably a native of North Carolina. Grandfather Harris died in North Carolina. William C. Mixson was the third of five sons and seven daughters. Four of the sons were in the late war, viz. : William C .: Barzilli H., who served from 1862 in the western army, in the Fifty-third Alabama; Henry J., who was a sergeant in the Fifty- fourth infantry and in the Western army from 1861 to the close of the war. He was captured at Island No. 10, was imprisoned at Camp Doug- las antil the fall of 1862, and rejoined his company when exchanged; John E., was in the Fifty-third Alabama mounted infantry all through the war. William C. Mixson was elected justice of the peace in 1858, was re-elected in 1862, and resigned in January, 1863, to join company G, Fifty-seventh Alabama infantry as lieutenant, but commanded his company most of the time, spending his first part of his service on the coast, at Mobile, Pen- sacola, Pollard, etc. He then joined the western army at Demopolis and fought at Resaca, on to the Atlanta and Jonesboro, back toward Nash- ville, but in northern Alabama he was taken sick and sent to the hospi- tal at Montgomery, and rejoined his regiment at Corinth after the retreat from Nashville. He then went to North Carolina and fought at Kingston and Bentonville and surrendered with Johnston. He was neither wounded nor captured during the war. After the war he resumed farming
and has ever since lived on his present farm, eight miles northeast of Clintonville, where he has a fine farm of four hundred and eighty acres, all acquired by his own efforts, upon which he raises his own supplies, corn, cotton, etc. He is considered one of the best farmers in the county. While his early education was somewhat limited, yet by his contact with the world he has acquired a great deat of practical experience and is a man of rare common sense and sound judgment. While not an active politician he is yet active in the support of his party, He is a member of Clintonville lodge, No. 188, F. & A. M., and is lecturer of Pea River farmers' allianee. He and his wife have been Methodists from their youth up. In 1891 he was instrumental in establishing Tabernacle post- office at his house and he is the postmaster. Mr. Mixson was married
677
PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
January 19, 1860, to Miss Martha E. Law, daughter of Capt. Isaiah T. Law. Mrs. Mixson was born September 18, 1846, and has twelve children living. Captain Isaiah T. Law, is one of the pioneer farmers and one of the most esteemed citizens of Coffee county. He was born in Sumter district, S. C., in 1820; he is a son of Isaiah and Margaret (Washburn) Law, the former a native of Sumter district, born in 1784, the latter born in Ruth- erford county, N. C., in 1786. Mrs. Law died in South Carolina when Captain Law was eight years old. Isaiah Law married again, and in 1832 moved to Houston county, Ga., and afteawird to Macon county, where he died in 1840. He was a man of more than ordinary ability and was for some years associate justice of the inferior court of Macon county. His father, George Law, was a native of Ireland. Gabriel Washburn was propably a native of England and died in Rutherford county, N. C., at an advanced age. Mrs. Law was born in Williamsburg district, S. C., in 1821, is the mother of ten children and is still living. In 1849 Captain Law came to Coffee county and a few years afterward settled on his present farm six miles north of Clintonville, where he owns 775 acres of land in two tracts. He was a justice of the peace nine years from 1850; was tax assessor and collector during 1852 and 1853, and was county commissioner three years, 1872-73-74. No case tried before him was ever appealed to the circuit court. He performed faithful service during the war of the rebellion, first as lieutenant, of company F. Fortieth Tennessee, and as captain after the regiment was re-organized. He was taken prisoner first at Island No. 10, and served a time on Johnson's Island, and he was afterward captured when Vicksburg surrendered to General Grant. He was paroled and exchanged and rejoined his company. Before Atlanta he was again taken prisoner and was again taken to Johnson's Island, where he was kept until June 16, 1865, and reached home June 27. He has been a Mason since 1854 and is now a member of Clintonville lodge, No. 188. Both he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, for many years, and stand deservedly high in the estimation of their neighbors and friends. On the first day of August, 1892, Mr. Mixson was elected to represent Coffee county in the state legislature of Alabama.
WILLIAM H. MOORE, planter of Elba, was born in Pike county Ga., in 1846. He is the son of Joel and Martha (Miller) Moore, also natives of Pike county, Ga., where Mr. Moore lived most of his life, dying, how- ever, at Chattanooga, Tenn, during the war. Five of his sons also served. in the Confederate army, doing honorable service. Both he and wife were Primitive Baptists. In 1865 after the war Mrs. Moore and the children removed to Coffee county, Ala .. where she died in 1876. John Moore, the paternal grandfather of William H., was a native of South Carolina, mar- ried there and then came to Pike county, Ga., where he reared a large family and died. He was a hard working and honest man and accumu- lated quite a fortune. William H. Moore is the sixth of eleven children,
678
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
eight sous and three daughters, viz .; Milton Oliver, who belonged to the Barnesville Blues of Georgia and was killed at Seven Pines; John, who served all through the war in the Virginia army, was once wounded and was killed at Ozark, Ala., in 1891; James, who was in the Twenty-seventh Georgia, was captured at Chickamauga, and confined at Point Lookout, Md., and is now deceased; Lewis Thomas, who was in the Twenty- seventh Georgia, and was also at Point Lookout as a prisoner and now lives in Chambers county; William H .; Mary J., wife M. C. Crocker; Perry Franklin of Florida; Boss: Sam Houston of Texas; Pellie, wife of Jesse Kemp, and Mary J, who died young. William H. Moore was reared on a farm and received but limited education. In 1864 he joined the Twenty-seventh Georgia infantry, and after a short service in that command served in Wheeler's cavahy till the close of the war, surren- dering at Macon, Ga. In 1865 he came with the rest of the family to Coffee county, Ala., and in 1871 married Martha A., daughter of Thomas and Leonora Cleghorn, who were reared in Alabama. Mr. Cleghorn, is now a resident of Coffee county, where his wife died. He was in the late war. He had been justice of the peace and was once sheriff of Coffee county. Mrs. Moore is the mother of twelve children; Minnie Lee, Martha Elizabeth, John Milton Oliver, William Joel, Perry Franklin, James Horace, Amanda Lavinia, Phenie May, Ernest, Thomas Grover Cleveland, Lillie Belle, and Carrie Lenora. Mr. Moore lived some miles above Elba until 1891, when the removed to his present farm one and a half miles southwest of Elba, where he has three hundred and eighty- three acres of good land, about one hundred of which are under cultiva- tion. He began life with nothing, settling in the woods when first mar- ried. He is a hard-working and industrious, honest man and both he and wife are members of the Primitive Baptist church.
JACKSON LAFAYETTE PRESCOTT, planter of Beat No 6, Coffee county, was born in this vicinity in 1848. He is a son of Daniel and Harriet (Richburg; Prescott, natives of South Carolina, who came to Georgia while yet in their youth and soon afterward to what is now Crenshaw county, but then Butler county, Ala., where they married and after the birth of their first child, about 1834, they removed to what is now Coffee county, settling in the woods on Beaver Dam creek, where he improved a farm and spent the rest of his life. He died in 1880 and his widow in 1890. He was born in 1805 and she in 1812. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church for many years. and they were among the very earliest settlers in Coffee county, when Montgomery, Ala., and Milton, Fla., were the nearest mar- kets. He served in the Indian war of 1836, and was a hard-working man all his life, and by his industry and economy made a good living and a good home. He was one of the large family born to Rev. Ephraim Pres- cott, a native of South Carolina, whence he removed to Georgia, and later, but still at an early date, to Butler, now Chenshaw county. A few years later, probably in 1830, he removed to what is now Coffee county and was
679
PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
one of the first settlers in that county. He settled on the Bullock and Elba road, where he followed farming and preaching for the Methodist church until his death, wkich occurred before Jackson L.'s recollection. His wife died at Mr. J. L. Prescott's father's house, while he was a boy. Prof. Hughey Richburg, the maternal grandfather of Jackson L. was born in South Carolina, whence he too removed to Georgia, then to Butler county, Ala., and still later to Coffee county, in which county he was one of the first settlers. He was married twice, his first wife being the grand- mother of Mr. J. L. Prescott. He followed teaching many years and raised a large family. He died in Coffee county about 1867. Mr. J. L. Prescott was the tenth of a family of six sons and six daughters, as fol- lows: William, died at Atlanta, during the war; James, died at Tupelo, Miss., during the war; John, killed at New Hope church, while serving as a member of Clanton's cavalry; Hughey, was in the war with William and James and now lives in Florida; J. L .; Calvin; Elizabeth, deceased wife of Henry Bedderton, of Tennessee; Rebecca, wife of John Lindsey, of Escambia county, Ala .; Saleda, wife of James Bedderton, of Lowndes county, Ala. ; Susan, wife of William Bowden, deceased, of Tennessee; Ann, wife of Benjamin Robinson, of Texas; Mahala, wife of George Rich- burg. Mr. J. L. Prescott was reared on a farm, receiving but a limited education. During the latter part of the war he did some little service in the home guards, scouting, etc., but was not called into active service. He began life for himself at his majority, farming for a time. He was married in 1868, to Etta, daughter of Thomas and Eliza Clark, who were very early settlers in central Alabama, in Lowndes county, where they both died. Mrs. Prescott was born in Lowdes county and is the mother of nine children, viz .: John William; Eliza Ellafare; Narcissa, wife of Walter Compton; Jackson L .; Daniel; Gordon Moore; Georgia Lenori; Ola and Oscar. In 1879, Mr. Prescott lived in Crenshaw county, moved thence to Coffee county, and from 1872 to 1874 in Texas. He then returned to Crenshaw county, where he lived three years when he returned to Coffee county. He has farmed all his life but from 1884 to 1888 he was sheriff of Coffee county. Since then he has lived on his farm of six hun- dred and forty acres, of which he has about two hundred and fifty cleared. He is one of the best farmers and most popular men in the county. He is a member of Elba lodge No. 170, F. & A. M., and is an earnest and active participant in all public matters looking to the advancement and prosperity of the community.
FRANCIS M. RUSHING, M. D., physician and surgeon, at Elba, was born in Montgomery county, Ala., in 1833. He is a son of Malachi and and Telitha (Dykes) Rushing, native of Beaufort district, S. C., the former born in 1792. the latter a few years later. They were both liber- ally educated, married in their native state, and in 1818 removed to Montgomery county, Ala., when there were but two houses in Montgomery. They located first on the prairie and then moved to Dublin in the piney
680
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
woods, where they both died when Francis M. was a little boy, the mother when he was seven years old, the father a few years later. Mr. Rushing was a farmer, and served a short time in the war of 1812, as a substitute for his brother. His father, Matthew Rushing, was probably born and died in South Carolina, but his wife came to Alabama and died in Pike county. Grandfather Dykes died in South Carolina when the mother of Francis M. was a little girl. Francis M. Rushing was the sixth of a family of six sons and one daughter: Thomas A., died wlien a young man; Baron DeKalb, now of Knox Hill, Fla., was a sergeant in the Thirty-third Alabama regiment during the late war; Stephen Dykes Decatur, died in Texas after the war; having served in the Eighth Alabama; William McDonough died in Texas after the war; Andrew J., died when a young man; Rebecca, his isster, died when a young lady. Whan Francis M., was about twelve years old, being an orphan, he and a brother went to Pike county, Ala. He lived with an uncle until he was sixteen years old, working on the farm and attending school in the winter time. Becoming dissatisfied with his lot he began life for himself, working on a farm and attending school as he had means. He succeeded in obtaining a fair education, and in 1855 became a clerk in the office of Probate Judge. P. D. Costello, continuing in this place until 1857, when he became clerk in a store, and at the same time read medicine with Drs. Blue & Moore. In 1861 he graduated from the medical department of the university of Louisiana, and then practiced at Elba until 1862, when he was made surgeon of the Twenty-fifth Alabama, and spent some months at Corinth, Miss. His health failing, he resigned and returned home, and practiced his profession at Bullock until 1863, when he joined the home guards and served as first lieutenant at Pollard, Pensacola, and other places, partici- pating in several minor battles and skirmishes. In 1859 he married Fannie V. Yelverton, daughter of Judge G. T. Yelverton, who came from Georgia to Alabama, finally locating at Elba, where Judge Yelverton is buried; Mrs. Yelverton is still living. Judge Yelverton was a prominent attorney and was a member of the legislature. He was also county judge of Dale and Coffee counties, and was a commissioner to Florida to negoti- ate for the transfer of West Florida to Alabama. He was also a member of the secession convention. He raised a regiment for service in the late war, but was not called into active service. Mrs. Rushing was born in Montgomery county, and died in 1877. She was a member of the Baptist. church, and the mother of four sons and four daughters, viz .: Martha A., wife of John B. Harper, of Geneva; William M .; John B .; Grappa M., a. physician at Nevada, Texas, a graduate of Mobile Medical college; Fannie M .; Tupp; Delia, and Minneola. Dr. Rushing is one of the oldest and most prominent physicans of Coffee county, and is both well and favorably known. He is a member of the State Medical association; and has been one of the counselors for six years, and is president of Coffee County Medical society. In 1878 he was elected to the legislature, and in 1880
681
PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
to the senate from Coffee, Henry, Dale and Geneva counties. He intro- duced several measures that became laws. In August, 1892, he was elected probate judge of Coffee county, Ala., without seeking the office. Since then he has been retired from politics. He has been a Mason since 1857, and is a member of Elba lodge, No. 170, A. F. & A. M. He has some farming interests, is popular with his people and is in all respects a self-made and successful man.
C. D. SAWYER, one of the leading farmers of Beat No. 9, was born in Morgan county, Ga., in 1838. He is a son of Carter and Elizabeth (Harron) Sawyer, who were probably born, the former in North Carolina and the latter in South Carolina. In 1845 they came from Georgia to Coffee county, Ala., and settled in the woods near where S. D. now lives, and improved a good farm, upon which Mr. Sawyer died in 1863. Both Carter and his wife, the latter of whom is still living, were mem- bers of the Primitive Baptist church, of which church Mr. Sawyer was a deacon. He was an honest, industrious man, and owned some twelve hundred or thirteen hundred acres of land at the time of his death. He served in the war against the Indians in 1826, was opposed to the civil war, but served in the home guards during the latter part of his life, at. Pollard, where he died. His father, Charles Sawyer, was a Virginian by birth, was married there, and came with his son to Alabama, and died in this state at the advanced age of nearly one hundred years. He was a small boy during the Revolutionary war. His wife died in Georgia. Jefferson Harron, the maternal grandfather of C. D. Sawyer was drowned while running on Flint river in Georgia, while Mrs. Sawyer was a little girl. He was a South Carolinian by birth, served in the Indian war and in the war of 1812. His wife died in Georgia. The sub- ject was reared on the farm near where he now lives and received but a limited education. In 1862 he enlisted in the Thirty-third Alabama in- fantry, company K, and served a short time on the coast. He then went
to Corinth, to Kentucky, and fought at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, to Atlanta and back with Hood to Nashville, on the retreat to Montgomery and to North Carolina, and sur- rendered with Johnston. He was slightly wounded in the hip at Perry- ville. He had frequently declared that he would never be captured by colored troops, and while on picket at Nashville one morning just before break of day he was approached by a regiment and ordered to surrender. He at once dropped his gun, but on the near approach of the regiment he saw they were colored troops, and at once picked up his gun, quickly dodged into the gully and crawled off in the darkness and made his way to camp. After the war he came home and engaged in farming. In 1867 he married Nancy, daughter of Tyre A. and Mary Goyaus, natives of Warren county, Ga., the former born in 1804 and the latter in 1812. In 1855 they came to Coffee county, where Mr. Goyaus died in 1883. Mrs. Goyeus is still living. Both were members of the Primitive Baptist
689
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
church. Mrs. Sawyer was born in Georgia, has had seven children, five of whom are living. At the time of his marriage Mr. Sawyer purchased one hundred acres of land in the woods near where he now lives, for which he paid $500. He has since added to his original one hundred acres as he was able, until now he has about fifteen hundred acres, and he is one of the most substantial farmers in the county. This property he has acquired by his own industry and economy. He is one of the hardest working men in the county at the present time. He devotes his entire attention to his work, pays no attention to public affairs, and it is to this undivded attention to his business that his success is in large measure due. Both he and his wife are members of the Primitive Baptist church. Mr. Sawyer is the eldest of the family; the others being Mary, wife of William Armour; Catherine, wife of Jacob Gunter; Warren Clark of Texas; Joseph; Edith, deceased, formerly wife of George Harris; Sarah: Martha, wife of Thomas King of Florda, and Noah. The family of Mr. Sawyer stands high in the estimation of the public, and is always interested in the progress of the community.
ANGUS VAUGHAN. planter of Beat No. 6, Coffee county, Ala., was born in Walton county, Fla., in 1826. He was a son of James and Nancy (Anderson) Vaughan, natives of South Carolina, the former being born in 1792. James Vaughan was reared on a farm with but limited education and was taken by his parents to Georgia at an early day. Here he mar- ried his first wife and removed to Dale county, Ala., about the time the state was admitted into the Union. Here he lived but a short time when he removed to Florida, where his wife died, and in 1825. he married again. In about 1830 he again removed to Alabama, settling in the woods in what is now Geneva county, on Pea river, and there on a good farm spent the rest of his life. He was a justice of the peace for some years, and in 1837 represented Walton county, Fla., in the legislature. He served in the war of 1812. Both he and his wife were Presbyterians, were among the first settlers of southeastern Alabama; and in the early days suffered many hardships incident to pioneer life. His father, Michael Vaughan, was a Virginian by birth He probably married in that state and moved thence to South Carolina, thence to Georgia, and later to Florida, where he lived the rest of his life. Angus Anderson, grandfather on the mother's side, of Angus Vaughan, was a Scotchman and came to this country when Mrs. Vaughan was three years old, settling in North Carolina, whence he removed to Florida, where he lived and died a farmer. The mother of Angus Vaughan died in 1876, and was the mother of ten children, viz .: Angus; David, died in 1859; Daniel, of Geneva, served in an Alabama regiment in the Tennessee army all through the war; James M., of Geneva county, served in the same command with his brother; Archibald, of Geneva county, was in the Virginia army for some time, spent eighteen months in the hospital as yard master part of the time, and afterward on the coast of Florida; John P., of Walton county,
.
683
PERSONAL MEMOIRS-COFFEE COUNTY.
Fla., served with his brothers in the Tennessee army; William P., of Florida, served in an Alabama regiment on the Florida coast about eight- een months during the latter part of the war; Rachel, wife of Marlan Gordon, of Florida; and Catherine, single. Angus Vaughan was reared on a farm with but little education. He remained at home until he attained his majority, and then, alternating between a store and the farm for a few years, became a merchant on his own account at Elba. In 1858 he married Martha O., daughter of Henry A. and Susan R. Caldwell, natives respectively of South Carolina and Georgia. They were married in Georgia, and in 1855 moved to Elba, Ala., and Mr. Caldwell died in Coffee county in 1859. He was a clerk of the county court in Georgia and a man of excellent character. His widow is still living. Mrs. Vaughan was born, reared and educated in Georgia. She is the mother of ten children, all of whom are living, viz .: Mary O., wife of John Bell; James H. ; Anna; Angus C .; Helen ; John T., of Florida; Irene: David M. ; Daniel R., and Susan. When the war broke out Mr. Vaughan was in ill - health, but at length decided to enlist. He was, however, persuaded by his family not to do so, but to furnish a substitute, which he did at a cost of $1,500. During the war he followed farming and then merchandising for some years, and since 1875 he has lived on his present farm, three miles northwest of Elba. Here he owns 400 acres of land, about 100 of which are under cultivation. He was county treasurer for about three years during the war, and from 1870 to 1880 he was clerk of the circuit. court. He has since then devoted his attention exclusively to farming. He is a member of the Elba lodge, No. 170, F. & A. M., and was W. M. from 1871 to 1874. Both he and his wife have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, she from her youth up and he for a. good many years. He has been steward in the church for more than twenty years, has been a lay delegate to the district conference several times; also a lay delegate to the annual conference, in 1872, at Troy, Ala.
WILLIAM H. WARREN, planter of Clintonville, Ala., was born in Wilk inson county, Ga., in 1846. He is a son of Jesse M. and Mary (Breedlove, Warren, the former of whom was a native of Greene county, Ala., born in 1811, and the latter of Hancock county, Ga., and born six or seven years later. James M. Warren was reared on a farm, was brought by his parents when quite young to Georgia, where he received a common school education and married, and in 1856 came to Barbour county, Ala. The next. year he moved to Dale county, and two years afterward to Coffee county, where he spent the rest of his life, dying March 12. 1878. His widow is still living and is seventy-two years of age. Both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Warren was a hard-working, industri- ous man, was a farmer and a Mason for many years. His father, Robert. Warren, was probably a Virgianian by birth but moved to Georgia and died there. Grandfather Breedlove died in Hancock county, Ga. He was.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.