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 80
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
judicial circuit of Alabama. Judge Carmichael was born in Georgia and came with his father to Alabama when a boy. His family settled in Coosa county, where he was reared on a farm, and subsequently removed to Dale county, where his educational advantages were limited. He served in the Fifteenth Alabama infantry in the army of northern Virginia, and lost an arm at Sharpsburg. After the war he read law and was admitted to the bar in Dale county. He was a member of the legislature in 1870, and in 1872 he was elected to the state senate, and, in 1876, he was elected secretary of the Alabama senate. He was appointed probate judge of Dale county by Gov. Houston to fill tlie unexpired term of Judge Richards about 1876, and served two years. In 1880 he was elected state auditor for two years and was re-elected in 1882, thus serving in that office four years. He was presidential elector for the third congres- sional district of Alabama, elected in 1884. He then practiced law until 1886, in which year he was elected judge of the third circuit. He was to have taken the office in November, 1886, but Judge Chilton re- signing he was appointed to fill out his unexpired term, and afterward entering upon the term to which he was elected, which expired in No- vember, 1892. He was re-elected in August, 1892, to the same office for . a term of six years. Judge Carmichael was married to Amanda Smith, a natve of Georgia, who died in 1870, and he has been twice married since that time.
WILLIAM P. CHITWOOD, a prominent member of the Tuscumbia bar, and judge of the district court of Colbert and Lauderdale counties, was born in Lincoln county, Tenn., September 3, 1836. His father was Col. Stephen C. Chitwood, a native of Virginia, who after his removal to Lincoln county, Tenn., filled several important offices, was a colonel of the militia and was in many ways a prominent citizen of the county. He removed to Lawrence county in 1843 and died in 1882. Judge William P. Chitwood grew to manhood in Lawrence county, and was educated at Moulton. He afterward attended Irving college, near McMinnville, Tenn., and then read law with ex-govornor Lewis at Moulton, and continued the study and practice of the law until the beginning of the war. He served in the war with Roddy's cavalry. and after the war was over he resumed his law practice at Moulton, remaining there until 1889, and was rewarded with abundant success. In 1889 he removed to Tuscumbia and at once took position as one of the leading members of the Colbert county bar. In March, 1891, he was appointed judge of the district court, and his ad- ministration of the affairs of this court have been eminently satisfactory to the people of the two counties composing the district. He was married December 10, 1870, to Laura Lyon of Winona, Miss., and to this marriage six sons and one daughter have been born. One of the sons, William Lyon, graduated at Howard college in 1889. He then read law under his father and was admitted to the bar in 1892. Judge Chitwood is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity and of the Knights of Honor.
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S. J. COOPER. M. D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Tuscumbia, was born in that city, September 4, 1845. He is the son of Lyddle B. Cooper, deceased, one of the most prominent members of the bar of northern Alabama. Samuel J. Cooper received a common school education and in 1863 enlisted in company I, W. A. Johnson's cavalry regiment. He participated in the battle of Harrisburg, Miss., Newnam, Ga., and was with Forrest at the surrender of Athens, Ala. He was also in all the battles as far as Pulaski, Tenn., and at the battle. of Selma. He surrendered at Pond Spring, Ala., and after the war returned home and entered a mercantile establishment as a clerk. In 1866 in company with other parties he commenced business for himself under the firm name of Nelson, Wilson & Cooper. In 1868 he began the study of medi- cine with Dr. Abernethy and graduated from the Memphis Medical college in 1871. He spent one year in the hospital at Memphis and then returned to Tuscumbia and practiced medicine there during the winters 1873-74. Dr. Cooper spent some time at the college of Physicians and Surgeons in New York city, receiving private instruction under Drs. Wyeth and Loomis. For the past twenty years Dr. Cooper has been regularly en- gaged in the practice of medicine at Tuscumbia. During this time he has met with gratifying success in all the branches he has practiced, and he has earned the reputation of being one of the leading physicians and surgeons in the county. He is a member of the Colbert County Medical society and the board of censors. He is also a member of the State Medical society, is a Knight of Pythias and a Knight of Honor, and is a. member of the Presbyterian church.
JAMES SHELBY GRISHAM, sheriff of Colbert county, and one of the well known citizens of the county, was born October 20, 1839, near Good Springs station, fourteen miles south of Tuscumbia, on the Birmingham, Sheffield & Tennessee River railroad. The family to which he belongs is one of the oldest and best known families in the county. Sheriff Gris- ham's father, William Grisham, was born in May, 1808, near Spartan- burg, S. C., and was the son of Thomas Grisham, who was a native of North Carolina. The father of Thomas Grisham, James Grisham, was a Revolutionary soldier. Thomas Grisham, our subject's grandfather, at his death bore marks upon his body caused by being whipped by British soldiers for refusing to tell where his father kept his guns. During the war he carried the mail a portion of the time, and passed Guilford's court house the next day after the battle at that place. In December, 1824, Thomas Grisham left South Carolina for Alabama, arriving in the state in January, 1825, and locating on a farm near where Sheriff Grisham was born. He was among the first settlers in that part of the state. Thomas Grisham died before the commencement of the late war. William Gris- ham was married, in 1832, to Miss Mary D. Smith, who was a native of Buckingham county, Va., but whose father, when she was three years old, moved his family to Wilson county, Tenn., and settled near States-
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ville. William Grisham died in 1879, and his widow in 1882, leaving three children. James Shelby Grisham was reared in the vicinity of his birth place, and secured his early education in the country schools. In February, 1861, he removed from Colbert county to Arkansas, and in the following June enlisted in company I, Fifth Arkansas infantry. From the fall of 1861 until the close of the war he served with the army of the Tennessee. There were five of the brothers in the service, one of whom was killed, another died during the war, and still another died after the war from the effects of exposure during the war. After the close of the war James Shelby Grisham returned to his home in Colbert county, where he engaged in farming until his election to office. In 1888 he was the candidate on the democratic ticket for sheriff of Colbert county, but with the majority of the ticket was defeated. In 1892 he was again nominated and won after a hard fight by a majority of 543, the largest majority of any man on the ticket. He took possession of the office August 22, 1892. He was married December 20, 1866, to Miss Elizabeth C. Hurst, who was born near where Mr. Grisham was born. She is the daughter of John Hurst. To this marriage have been born four children: Eliza, Mary Caroline, Arthur and William H. Mr. Grisham is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and a very popular and highly respected citizen.
FRANCIS R. KING, one of the leading and well-known inhabitants and merchants of Leighton, Ala., and member of the mercantile firm of F. R. King & Co., was born in Colbert county, Ala., October 30, 1859. A brief account of his parentage may be found in connection with the memoir of Paul S. King, elsewhere in this work. He was reared on the farm until he was fifteen years of age. His early education was obtained at the common schools and he attended the university of Alabama during the years 1875 and 1876. Leaving college, he entered his brother's store at Leighton, as a clerk, and in 1880 became a member of the present firm of F. R. King & Co., succeeding his brother William. Mr. King was mar- ried June 30, 1886, to Miss Imogene White, of Memphis, Tenn., by whom he has had four children. Mr. King is a Knight of Honor, and as a citizen he is one of the best and most reliable in the county. In politics he is a stanch democrat, yet he is not an office-seeker, content to remain in the private station, which is the post of honor.
PAUL S. KING, a leading citizen of Leighton, and a member of the mercantile house of F. R. King & Co., the largest house of the kind in the place, was born in Lawrence county, Ala., July 20, 1849. He is the son of Hartwell R. and Mary H. (Smith) King, the former of whom was a native of Wake county, N. C., born in 1820, and the latter of Lauderdale county, Ala., born in 1830. She is the daughter of John and Susan Smith. The grandfather of Paul S. King was Hartwell King, a native of North Carolina, who reared a large family and died before the war. His widow died in 1871 aged eighty-eight years. The father of Mr. King entered the
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Confederate service as a member of Captain Parker Rand's company and served until the close of the war. He died December 11, 1872, and his widow still lives. There were eight sons and one daughter born to them, three of the sons and the daughter being still alive, viz .: Paul S. and F. R., of Leighton, W. O., living in the vicinity of Nashville, Tenn., and Susie, wife of George Gilchrist, of Courtland, Ala. Paul S. King was reared in Lawrence county on the farm. His early education was secured at the common schools, and he then graduated from Bryant & Stratton's business college in St. Louis in 1870. The same year he commenced busi- ness as a general merchant at Leighton, where he has ever since remained in the same business and has also carried on farming and stock raising to a considerable extent. While Mr. King has never been an aspirant for public office he has always taken an active interest in politics aud public affairs of the county and state, and has rendered his party assistance both in time and money. In politics he is a democrat, and he is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Knights of Honor. He was married in 1876 to Miss Debbie E. Simmons of Iuka, Miss. She died December 25, 1879, leaving two children, one of whom survives. In 1882 Mr. King married Miss Steppi L. Pickett, daughter of Judge R. O. Pickett, of Florence, Ala., and by this marriage has four sons.
AMOS L. MOODY, register and clerk of the chancery court of Colbert county, was born in Franklin county, Ala., January 14, 1835. His pa- rents were Reuben-and Nancy A. (Curran) Moody, the former of whom was a native of South Carolina and the latter of Virginia. Reuben Moody came to Alabama about 1819, and located in Franklin county. He was married in Franklin county, and lived there until 1853, when he removed to Arkansas. Two years later he returned to Franklin county, Ala., and continued to reside there until his death, which occurred in 1884. His widow and ten children survive him, five of whom reside in Texas and five in Alabama. He was born in 1811, his wife in 1817, and they were married in 1834. Amos L. Moody was reared on the farm, and worked on the farm and in his father's blacksmith shop. When not at work he attended school, and, being an apt scholar, secured a good com- mon English education. During the family's residence in Arkansas, he taught school, and upon returning to Alabama he opened a blacksmith shop at Frankfort, Franklin county, which he ran until the spring of 1862. He then went to work for the Confederate government at Adairsville, Ga., and remained there until 1864. Returning to his old shop in Frankfort in 1864, he remained there one year, and in August, 1865, he took the position of clerk in the office of the probate judge in Franklin county, being appointed by Judge Wamble, and he continued to clerk for that judge until the close of 1867, and from that time to the close of 1870 for Judge Anderson. In May, 1870, he was appointed register and clerk of the chancery court of Franklin county, which office he filled until August, 1880, when he was
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
elected probate judge of Franklin county, and served in that office for six years. In November, 1886, he was re-appointed register and clerk of the chancery court of Franklin county, and remained in that office until December 27, 1887, when he removed to Colbert county. On Jan- uary 3, 1888, he was appointed register and clerk of the chancery court of Colbert county, which office he still holds. Mr. Moody was married January 19, 1859, to Miss Emma Douthit, daughter of Rev. James Douthit of Franklin county, Ala. She died April 18, 1880, leaving eleven chil- dren. Mr. Moody married February 2, 1831. Miss Marietta Smith, daughter of the widow Elizabeth A. Smith, of Colbert county. To this marriage there have been born four children, three of whom survive. Mr. Moody is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined the lodge of Frankfort in 1865, paying his initiation in Confederate money. He is a member of the royal arch chapter of Tuscumbia. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias, having joined this order in 1880; also is a member of the uniform rank in said order, and carries a policy of $3,000.
JOSHUA BURNS MOORE, a prominent member of the Colbert county bar, and indeed of northern Alabama, was born in Franklin county, Ala., in 1833. His grandfathers, Moses Moore and William Burgess, were from South Carolina, both coming to Alabama during the early history of the state, locating in Franlkin county. The former died at the age of eighty-six and the latter at the age of ninety-six. William Moore, the father of Joshua Burns Moore, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died in 1849. On account of poverty he was unable to educate his chil- dren as he desired, and Joshua B. Moore received only such education as could be acquired at an old field school, attending school when he could not work in the flelds until he was fourteen years old. He then under- took a course of study without a teacher and when fifteen borrowed a copy of Blackstone's commentaries, commenced the study of law and was admitted to the bar at the age of seventeen. From the beginning of his professional career he was unusually successful, and in later years his abilities as a criminal lawyer have been abundantly demonstrated. His reputation in this respect is second to that of no other lawyer in north- ern Alabama. His appeals to the jury are generally effective, and his adversary in the trial of causes is nearly always taken by surprise in the course of the argument or in the appeal that Mr. Moore takes or makes. . Mr. Moore was a state senator during the important sessions of the leg- islature of 1874-75 and 1875-76, taking an active part in all the important reforms then instituted. Previous to the war Mr. Moore took no active part in politics, preferring to confine himself exclusively to his profes- sion. When the great question of the secession of Alabama came up for discussion he together with the great proportion of the people of the northern portion of the state opposed it; but when the war was actually begun his sympathies were then with the people of the south. On ac- count of ill health, however, he took no active part in the war, but con-
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tributed in every other way to the success of the southern cause. After the war he advised the people to acquiesce in the policy of the govern- ment of the United States, and in September, 1865, he was a member of the constitutional convention that mnet in Montgomery to revise the con- stitution of the state of Alabama, to make it conform to the new condi- tion of the slave population, in their emancipation. The work of the con- vention was not acceptable to congress, and it together with the whole of President Johnson's policy. was overthrown. Then came reconstruc- tion measures which to a great extent disfranchised the intelligent por- tion of the southern people, and placed local goverment in the hands of a foreign element and former slaves, wholly incompetent to rule, and in 1874, a great revolt occurred against the ignorant and irresponsible ele- ment, and an effort was made which resulted in success to rescue the gov- ernment of the state and place it in competent and experienced hands. During this crisis Mr. Moore abandoned his profession-took the stump and bent all his energies to the work, the result being the election of Governor George S. Houston and the majority of each branch of the legislature. In 1858, Mr. Moore married Miss Thomas Ella Pearsall, daughter of Edward and Parthenia Pearsall, by which marriage he had four daughters. In 1874, while Mr. Moore was at Montgomery in attend- ance upon a session of the legislature, a tornado swept over Tuscumbia, leveling his fine brick residence to the ground and killing his wife and his two youngest daughters. His other two daughters are still living. Mr. Moore is still actively engaged in his profession.
CHARLES R. PALMER, M. D., a leading physician and surgeon of Tuscumbia, and a member of the medical firm of Cooper & Palmer, was born in Tuscumbia, October 28, 1859. His parents were Charles B. and Isabella (Anderson) Palmer, the former of whom was born in New York state, and came with his parents to Limestone county, Ala., in 1823, they being among the early pioneers of that county. The grandfather of Dr. Palmer studied medicine and began practice, but, on account of an affec- tion of his eyes, he abandoned the profession. He removed his family to Tuscumbia in 1827, which he afterward made his home. He is, still living and is one of the oldest residents of Tuscumbia. Miss Isabella Ander- son was born in Rockingham county, Va., and came with her father to Tuscumbia in 1835, and she, as well as her husband, is still living. Charles R. Palmer was reared in Tuscumbia. He at first received his education in the common schools, and when seventeen years of age en- tered Vanderbilt university and remained there one term. He then re- turned home and studied medicine with his present partner. He then attended the medical department of Vanderbilt university, and graduated there in 1883. After practicing in Coahoma county, Miss., three years he removed to Barton, Ala., where he remained five years. He then re- moved to Tuscumbia, and formed his partnership with Dr. Cooper in August, 1891. Dr. Palmer was married January 19, 1888, to Miss Sudie
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Huston, daughter of Dr. J. M. Huston of Dickson, Ala. By this mar- riage he has two sons, James Huston, born June 21, 1889, and Charles Richard, Jr., born June 12, 1891. Dr. Palmer is a member of the Colbert County Medical society, and is recognized as one of the foremost physi- cians of Colbert county.
CAPT. PARKER N. G. RAND, one of the leading planters of Colbert county, Ala., residing three and a half miles southwest of Leighton, and nine and a half miles southeast of Tuscumbia, was born at La Grange. Colbert county, October 18, 1829. He is the son of John and Martha (Curtis) Rand, both natives of Wake county. N. C. After marriage they came to Alabama in 1826, locating in Franklin, now Colbert, county, where Mr. Rand purchased two plantations, followed planting success- fully and accumulated considerable property. His wife died December 25, 1845, and his death occurred in 1863. They were the parents of eleven children, two of whom died in infancy, nine living to mature years. Two of the children only are now living, viz .: Capt. Parker N. G. and William H., a citizen of Texas. Capt. Rand was reared on his father's plantation and attended the common schools in his youthful days. In 1845 he went to La Grange and entered the college there, from which he graduated in 1849 with the degree of bachelor of arts. After leaving college he followed planting until the breaking out of the war, and in 1862 raised a company of which he was elected captain. With this company he entered a battalion under Major Williams, which was subsequently merged into the Eleventh Alabama cavalry under Col. Burtwell, a graduate of West Point. He remained with the Eleventh until the close of the war, surrendering his company at Wheeler's Sta- tion in April, 1865. After the war Capt. Rand returned to the farm and has followed farming ever since. For more than forty years he has been a magistrate in Colbert county. In 1892 he attempted to secure the nom- ination for probate judge, but was defeated. He, however, did not sulk in his tent, but when his party called on him to assist in the campaign he promptly responded, rendering all the assistance which lay in his power, and the result of all the efforts made was that Colbert county was carried for the democratic party for the first time in many years. Capt. Rand is a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Knights of Honor. He was married February 8, 1855, to Miss Martha Smith, daughter of John Smith, of Lawrence county, Ala., and to their marriage there have been born eight children, seven of whom are living, viz .: Dr. Edgar Rand, a physician, of Leighton; Henry A., a farmer; Martha B., wife of Henry P. Kumps; Parker, Jr., merchant at Leighton; John B., connected with a wholesale grocery house in Memphis; Hal, at home on the plantation, and Mary S., a recent graduate of the Huntsville Female college.
RICHARD L. Ross, druggist and county treasurer of Colbert county, was born near Triana, Madison county, October 26, 1825. He is a son
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of Alexander and Elizabeth (Cooper) Ross, the former of whom was a native of Spottsylvania county, Va., born there about 1783, and the latter was also a native of Virginia, born in 1810. After their marriage they removed to Frankfort, Ky., where he carried on brick making and con- tracting till 1825, and then located near Triana, Madison county, Ala., where he engaged in farming; in 1834 he removed to Decatur; in 1847 to Tuscumbia, and finally, in 1848, he removed to Lawrence county, where he died in 1849. The Ross family came originally from Italy in the person of Vincent Ross, father of Alexander Ross, who came to this country when eighteen years of age, locating in Virginia, and raising a large family. Richard L. Ross was well educated, receiving five years' schooling at Tuscumbia. He entered a grocery store as salesman when eighteen years of age. In 1846 he engaged in the drug business and has ever since then been engaged in this business with the exception of two years during the war, when he was clerk for the chief surgeon of Gen. Roddy's men, one-half of this time from May, 1864, to the close. In 1883 he was appointed, by the governor of the state, treasurer of Colbert county to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Patterson, who had resigned. In 1884 he was elected by the people to that office for a term of four years. In 1888 he was defeated in his candidacy for re-election, but in 1892 he was again a candidate and was elected by a handsome majority of 430 votes. He has always been a democrat in politics. He was mar- ried in October, 1871, to Martha E., daughter of L. B. Cooper, deceased, one of Tuscumbia's most brilliant lawyers, and to this marriage has been born one child, a daughter. Mr. Ross is a prominent member of the Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor and Knights and Ladies of Honor.
THOMAS R. ROULHAC, an attorney of northern Alabama and a citizen of Sheffield, Ala., was born at Raleigh, North Carolina, November 8, 1846. The Roulhac family is of French origin, the first ancestor of the subject of this sketch came to this country as an officer under the Marquis de La Fayette. Before the Revolution, however, an uncle of his had made his home in eastern North Carolina, and his residence still remains in a good state of preservation. He was an ardent supporter of the colonies in their struggle for freedom, and advocated among his friends in France the extending of active aid to their efforts. Many instances of his firm and zealous support of the American cause have been related. The family was thus among the earliest settlers of that part of "the old North State." Joseph B. G. Roulhac was a man of considerable means, and active in the business enterprises of his state. He was a member of the constitu- tional convention of North Carolina of 1833 from the county of Bertie. He married the eldest daughter of Chief Justice Thomas Ruffin, who for many years presided in the highest court of that state, and whose decis ions have reflected credit on its judiciary. Of this marriage Thomas R. Roulhac was the fifth child and second son. From Dr. Wilson's school, Mr. Roulhac entered the military academy at Hillsborough, and from
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