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 82
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office George M. Duskin, a repulbican, before the expiration of his term, and upon the assembling of the senate the republican members of that body demanded the president's reasons for said removal. These Mr. Cleveland refused to make known, and, as a consequence, Mr. Burnett's confirmation was vigorously opposed by the republican senators, result- ing in a partisan contest between the president and the senate, which lasted for six or seven months, eventually terminating in Mr. Burnett's confirmation. It is a well known fact that Mr. Burnett's ability and fit- ness were never questioned by the opposition, the contest being solely for the purpose of establishing the fact whether or not the president under the constitution had the right to remove and appoint officers at will. Mr. Burnett discharged the duties of this office ably and conscien- tiously. Since the expiration of his official term, Mr. Burnett has applied himself closely to the practice of his profession, and while successful in all departments, is especially so as a civil lawyer. Mr. Burnett is a close student, a man of unyielding tenacity in what he deems sound principle, and his integrity as a practitioner has never been called in question. Blessed with vigorous health and stalwart frame, fully alive to the multiform phases of the great social, political and economic activi- ties of the age, Mr. Burnett gives to the questions of the day a calm, judicial examination, which only a trained intellect and high professional standing can bestow. Faithful devotion to the practice of his chosen calling has given him a prominent place among the attonrneys of his native state, and his prominence as a citizen has entitled him to share in a large measure the condence and respect of the public. Mr. Burnett was married in Evergreen, Ala., June 29th, 1876, to Mary V., daughter of Gen. E. W. Martin, to which union the following children, Mary V., John D., and Daisy Martin, have been born. In politics Mr. Burnett has been a potent factor in the democratic party in his county and state and fraternally belongs to the Masonic order, K. of P., and K. of H. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
ALBERT G. DUKE, one of the oldest native residents of Conecuh county, and a son of Joel and Rebecca (Watson) Duke, was born March 15, 1822. When he was seventeen years of age his parents removed to Coosa county, but on attaining his majority, he removed to the county of his nativity, where he has since continued to reside. He began life for himself as a farmer on land for which he went in debt and for which he paid in full, from the proceeds of the first crop raised. This crop con- sisted of forty two bales of cotton, which realized him the average value of nine cents per pound. His original purchase, consisting of 550 acres of land, has been added to from time to time, since, until he now owns a valuable plantation of over 800 acres, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation. He has given a special attention to the raising of cotton and has sold crops, at different times, as high as forty-two cents per pound; this immediately after the war, when the
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price of that commodity was very high. In addition to his agricultural interests, Mr. Duke has, for some years, been engaged in the mercantile business, starting a general goods store at the town of Burnt Corn in the year 1870. He still conducts this business, carries a stock representing a capital of about $2,500, and does a yearly trade of over $10,000. He also operates a fine steam gin and grist-mill, the former having a capac- ity of over 600 bales per year. Mr. Duke has met with well earned suc- cess in his varied undertakings and is deservedly classed with the suc- cessful men of his county. Although having reached an advanced age he still possesses unimpaired his faculties, physical and mental, and gives personal attention to his large business interests. On the 12th day of December, 1850, in the town of Burnt Corn, Mr. Duke and Miss Rebecca, daughter of Samuel D. Nash, were united in the bonds of wedlock, a union to which the following children have been born, namely: Frank P., resident of Burnt Corn; Elizabeth, wife of R. W. Mosely; Samuel D., bookkeeper for a large implement firm at Dallas, Texas; Emma, wife of J. C. Green, Pensacola, Fla., and William A., who resides at home with his parents. In politics, Mr. Duke supports the pirnciples of the demo- cratic party, and in religion he and his wife are communicants of the Baptist church. Joel Duke, the father of Albert G., was a native of Edge- field district, S. C., born in 1806. He was, by occupation, a planter, took an active interest in public affairs, and was a man of much more than ordinary education for his day. He came to Conecuh county, Ala., as early, perhaps, as 1819, married a short time thereafter, and for a number of years resided in the vicinity of Burnt Corn village. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was with Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. The Dukes are of English descent, and the grandfather of Albert G., Joel Duke, was born in the old country, and in an early day settled in South Carolina. Mr. Duke's maternal ancestors, settled orig- inally in Georgia from which state they removed to Alabama a great
many years ago. The following are the names of the children born to Joel and Rebecca (Watson) Duke: Mrs. Adeline Jones, deceased; Thomas, a farmer residing near Goldbranch, Ala .; Albert G .; George, killed near Atlanta in the late war; John, also a soldier in the Confederate army, killed in Mississippi in 1863; Martha, wife of John Masengill, of Texas, and Mrs. Mary Blackman of Sylacauga, Ala.
AUGUSTUS F. HAMIL, the subject of this mention, is descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry, and exhibits in his make up many of the sterling qualities of that sturdy class of people. His grandfather, George Hamil, was an early resident of Georgia and a soldier of the war of 1812. He reared a family of ten children, moved to Alabama early in the forties, and died in Coffee county, in 1865. One of his sons, E. R. Hamil, father of Augustus, was born in Pike county, Ga., in the year 1818, and died there in 1872. He was a prosperous planter, and thrifty business man and became quite prominent in the political and religious circles of his
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county. He possessed in an eminent degree, the qualities of true manli- ness, was strong in his religious connections, a member of the Baptist church:, and seems to have transmitted to his children a large measure of those principles by which his life was characterized. In 1838 he was united in marriage with Angeline Bush, daughter of James Bush, and became the father of six children. The eldest was Augustus F. ; William, is a farmer and business man of Blakely, Ga. He served in the late war as musician in the Seventh Georgia infantry. The next two, in order of birth, were Sallie and Benjamin, both deceased. John Hamil is a livery- man at the town of Barnesville, Ga., and Emma. the youngest member of the family, is also a resident of Georgia, the widow of Dr. Johnson of the town of Blakely. Augustus Hamil is a native of Pike county, Ga., and dates his birth from the 26th day of February, 1840. He acquired a prac- tical English education in the common schools, and in the spring of 1861 enlisted in the Fourth battalion Georgia sharpshooters, with which he served until the close of the war, the regiment in the mean- time becoming the Thirty-seventh Georgia infantry of the army of Tennessee. Mr. Hamil's first battle was at Cumberland Gap, and later he was with his command in the engagements at Mur- freesboro, Chickamauga and Mission Ridge, in the last of which he received a severe wound, a ball passing entirely through the neck, carry- ing away a portion of his collar bone, and lodging in the sleeve of his shirt. Mr. Hamil keeps the little leaden missile as a relic of his bloody military experience. After spending thirty days in the hospital, Mr. Hamil rejoined his company, which was afterward engaged in the Atlanta campaign and Hood's raid through Tennessee, participating in all the battles around Atlanta and the engagements at Franklin and Nash- ville. Mr. Hamil surrendered with his regiment at Greensboro, N. C., and returning home engaged in the lumber and milling business at Boll- ing, Ala., as superintendant of the logging department. He is now connected with the Milner, Caldwell & Flowers Lumber company, and in addition to his milling interest owns a fine plantation near Evergreen, and is atso identified with Evergreen Hedge Fence company, of which he is now president. Mr. Hamil made his home at Bolling until 1889, at which time he changed his residence to Evergreen, where he has since resided. He is a substantial citizen and belongs to that sturdy moral class of people who let action instead of words tell of their standing in the community. Mr. Hamil married, March 1, 1861, in Butler county, Ala., Miss Elizabeth J., daughter of W. H. Thomas, a union blessed with the birth of the following children: William, Sallie E., deceased: Charles F., traveling salesman for Evergreen Fence company, Hugh F., and James Edward. Mr. and Mrs. Hamil are members of the Methodist church of Evergreen, of which society Mr. Hamil holds the office of steward.
PERSONAL MEMOIRS-CONECUH COUNTY. 713
ELIAB B. HORTON, a successful farmer, son of William and Mary Turk) Horton, was born on the farm where he now lives, in Conecuh county, Ala., April 4, 1824. His father, a man of business sagacity and austere words, was a native of North Carolina, born about the year 1777. William Horton, was by occupation a farmer, served for many years as magistrate, and took part in the war of 1812, as captain of a company, stationed at Savannah, Ga. He was married near Milledgeville, Ga., about the year 1808 to Mary Turk, and in 1818 emigrated to Alabama and settled in Conecuh county. William and Mary Horton reared a family of four sons and five daughters. namely: Helena, deceased wife of Allen Floyd; Henry W., deceased; Mrs. Mary Stallworth, deceased wife of Wm. M. Stallworth; Mrs. Cynthia, deceased wife of Jno. Brantley ;- Mrs. Caro- line Coleman, deceased wife of Peter Coleman; Alfred H., deceased; Mrs. Martha, wife of W. W. Allen, and Eliab B., all deceased but the subject of this sketch and Mrs. Allen, who resides at Shreveport, La. The father and mother of this family died in the years 1844 and 1857, respectively. Hugh Horton, father of William, was a Revolutionary soldier and an early settler of Georgia, moving to that state from Pennsylvania, where the family originally located on coming to America from Ireland. Dosia Turk, the grandfather of Mrs. Mary Horton, was born and raised in the state of Georgia. Eliab B. Horton has been a resident of Conecuh county all his life and is justly esteemed one of its most estimable citi- zens. When but a lad he lost his father, which fact interfered very materially with his early education, and at the age of fifteen he was com- pelled to look after the interest of the family as manager of the farm, a duty he truly and nobly performed. He succeeded to the possession of the homestead, to which he added from time to time until he is now classed among the large and prosperous land owners of Conecuh county, and one of the leading farmers in his part of the state. Mr. Horton has traveled extensively over Alabama and adjoining states and has been an intelligent observer of men and events all of his life. Though frequently importuned by his many friends throughout the county to accept official position, he has invariably declined, having no ambition in that direction and preferring to give his entire attention to his farming interests. He was originally a whig, but for many years has been a supporters of the democratic party, and while taking an interest in public affairs is little affected by the excitement of partisan politics. He was married, January 1, 1862, to Lucinda Kindall, who has borne him one child, William K., a fine manly young gentleman who lives with his parents.
THOMAS M. MCCALL, one of the leading business men of Castleberry, was born in Monroe county, Ala., January 11, 1860, and is the son of Dr. T. D. and Sarah J. McCall. Paternally he is descended from Scotch ancestors, who were among the early residents of South Carolina, several members of the family, among whom was his grandfather, emigrating from that state to Alabama, as long ago as 1810, settling in the county
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of Monroe. The grandfather was a man of local prominence and served in the last war with Great Britain. T. D. McCall was a native of Mon- roe county, born in 1833, and was a widely known and popular physician, a graduate of Memphis college. He was married in 1850 to Sarah J. Herrington, daughter of John Herrington, a native of Vermont, who early in life settled in Maryland, and there married Ann Dennis. The Herring- tons removed to Alabama as early as 1806, and were among the well known citizens of Monroe county, where Mrs. McCall was born and reared. The following are the names of the children born to Dr. and Sarah J. McCall: John D., died when a young man; Charlie E., a mill operator in Monroe county; Julius H., conductor on the L. & N. railroad running to Mobile; George B., also a conductor on the same line; Thomas M .; Moses E., deceased in 1891; and Elizabeth, died near Pensa- cola, Florida in 1867. After their marriage Dr. and Mrs. McCall resided for a while at Brooklyn, Conecuh county, thence removed to the vicinity of Pensacola, Florida, where in connection with the practice of his pro- fession, the doctor was also engaged in the timber business, manufactur- ing lumber for the European markets. In 1867 he located at Pollard, Escambia county, where he practiced his profession until his death, which occurred in 1870. The family remained at that city until 1878, and then removed to Monroe county, thence later to Montgomery, where the widow and several children still reside. Like many other successful men, Thomas McCall, in early life, was without the benefit of thorough educa- tional training, and at the age of ten he accepted a clerkship in a general store at the insignificant salary of $3 per month. He has spent the greater part of his life in the mercantile business, clerking at different times for various firms at Pollard, Ala .. and Escambia, Florida, and for some time was manager of the large store operated by the timber firm of Skinner & McDavid, for which he was paid a salary of $1,000 per year. Subse- quently he became manager of the store and business of a firm at Chumuckla, Florida, and while holding that position met and married Miss Julia Downing, eldest daughter of E. Downing, a prominent and suc- cessful business man of Smith, Ala. A short time after his marriage, Mr. McCall removed to Brewton, thence to Kirkland, where, in partner- ship with his father-in-law and J. C. Avent, under the firm name of the Union Lumber company, he engaged in the mercantile business, which he carried on about one and a half years, disposing of his interest at the end of that time and returning to Brewton, where he also engaged in the mercantile trade. He carried on a successful business at the latter place until July, 1888, at which time with many others he suffered severely from the great fire which almost destroyed the city. He rallied from his loss, however, and effecting a copartnership with Silas Maddox, under the firm name of Maddox & McCall, again opened a goods house, but a short time thereafter withdrew from the firm and removed to Castleberry, where he has been actively engaged in merchandising since the fall of
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1889. His business, since locating at Castleberry, has been more than ordinarily successful, and he carries a stock representing a capital of about $7,000, and about $35,000 represent the aggregate of his yearly sales. Mr. McCall is essentially a self-made man, and as such, coupled with busi- ness sagacity and honorable dealing has accomplished much in the face of adverse circumstances. He began life with no capital and is now reckoned among the substantial business men of Conecuh county. He is a member of the Methodist church, in which he holds the offices of steward and Sunday school superintendent, and belongs to the Masonic fraternity, Morris Lodge Mo. 201, Brewton. The home of Mr. and Mrs. McCall is brightened by the presence of two beautiful and interesting children, John Massey and Robert Elisha McCall. Mrs. McCall is a popular and accomplished lady and an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal church of Castleberry.
JOHN A. MCCREARY, M. D., an old and popular citizen of southern Alabama, is a native of Conecuh county, born about ten miles south of Evergreen on the 11th day of November, 1832. Paternally he is de- scended form Scotch-Irish ancestry and traces his family history back to the early days of Virginia. His father, John McCreary, was united in marriage in Conecuh county, in the year 1825, with Narcissa Autrey, daughter of Alexander Autrey, the second white man to make a perma- ment settlement within the present limits of Conecuh county. Of Alex- ander Autrey it has been said: "He came up from the most straitened circumstances, enduring all the privations of pioneer life, and yet, when he died, he was one of the wealthiest men in Conecuh." He was born of French and German ancestry in North Carolina, January 4, 1780, married, March 5th, 1803, Parthenia B. Irvin, and in 1810 moved to Georgia, thence to Monroe county, Ala. In 1815 he settled on what is now known as Hampton ridge, Conecuh county. He reared a large family, but one of whom, Mrs. C. P. Robinson of Vermillionville, Louisiana, is now living. Mr. Autrey died September 22, 1857. To the marriage of John and Narcissa McCreary were born the following children: Parthenia, widow of S. Mims; John A .; Mary A., widow of J. M. Travis; William, Lorenzo and Martha, the last three deceased. This family was raised in Conecuh county, and the father died on the home place ten miles south of Evergreen in the year 1834. His widow, in 1836, was united in mar- riage to Edward Shannon and departed this life in 1840. Adam Mc- Creary, grandfather of John A. McCreary, was born in South Carolina in 1768, and moved to Conecuh in 1818, settling near what is known as Old Town. He made the first improvement on the large plantation now owned by Dr. Taliaferro, and was a quiet, substantial citizen, noted for his deeply religious nature. Dr. John A. McCreary attended school at intervals during his youthful years at Evergreen, and at the age of eighteen began life for himself as clerk in the store of George Christian, at the same place. He was thus employed for a period of three years,
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when he bought a stock of goods and conducted the business until 1855, at which time he sold out and entered the office of Dr. Jordan at Ever- green for the purpose of preparing himself for the medical profession. After pursuing his studies assiduously for some time he took a course of lectures in the Eclectic school of medicine, Cincinnati, Ohio, and subse- quently entered the university of Louisiana at New Orleans, from which he graduated in March, 1860. Returning home with his degree he en- gaged in the practice at Sparta, then the county seat, and remained there until 1862, at which time he responded to the call of the state for volunteers, enlisting in company H, Second Alabama cavalry, with which he served until the close of the war, the greater part of the time on detail duty in the states of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. On quit- ting the service, he returned home and effected a copartnership in the practice with Dr. Taliaferro, which was dissolved after a few months, Dr. McCreary continuing his professional duties in connection with the drug business, in which he had interested himself shortly after the close of the war. He continued in active practice until 1865, since which time he has given his attention entirely to the drug business, in which he has been more than ordinarily successful, his stock, at this time, being the largest of the kind in Evergreen. The doctor has been twice mar- ried; first, in October, 1860, to Marcella, daughter of Asa Johnston, who bore him three children, namely: Earnest, partner with his father in the drug trade; Edward J., clerk in the general mercantile establish- ment of Demming, Evergreen, and John A., Jr., an attorney at law at Bessemer, Ala. Mrs. McCreary died in 1870, and in 1871, the doctor mar- ried his present wife, Elizabeth Ethridge, daughter of John W. Ethridge, a union blessed by the birth of four children-the eldest of whom, Mar- cellus, is a student at Howard college, Eastlake, Ala., where he is pursu- ing his studies for the purpose of engaging in the medical profession. The other children, Willie A., Lizzie Estelle, and Mattie Lou, reside at home with their parents. As a democrat, Dr. McCreary has been active in behalf of his party's interests in Conecuh county, and, in 1883, was honored by an election as county treasurer, and re-elected in 1892. He has also served as mayor of Evergreen several terms, and has been active in all movements, having for their object the general prosperity of the city and county. Fraternally, he belongs to the Odd Fellows and K. of P. orders, and is a communicant of he Baptist church, as is also his wife.
WILLIAM I. MURDOCK, one of the large and successful farmers and stock raisers of southern Alabama, of which state he is a native, was born in the county of Calhoun on the 4th day of July, 1847. He is the eldest of a family of eight children, born to James W. and Nancy Mur- dock, and like many other substantial men of the country, the mental and moral fiber of his nature was hardened and invigorated by early con- tact with the rugged duties of the farm. At the age of twenty-five, on
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the 23d of February, 1872, in Dale county, he was wedded to Anna Laura, daughter of John H. and Sarah (Powell) Fussell, and immediately there- after purchased a farm near the old homestead in Calhoun county, and engaged in agricultural pursuits, which he carried on in that neighbor- hood with fair success for five years, then removed to Wayne county, Miss., where he was similarly engaged for a peirod of two years. Owing to ill health he left Mississippi and returned to Alabama, locating, in 1879, on his present beautiful plantation in the western part of Conecuh county, where he has since resided. His farm, one of the largest and best im- proved in the county, consists of 840 acres of fine land, about 500 acres . , of which are under a high state of cultivation, and the buildings are large and commodious and of the latest style of architecture. . Mr. Mur- dock is a thoroughly practical man, careful and judicious in all his busj- ness operations, and his success in his chosen calling has, indeed, been most flattering. He stands high in the community and is recognized as a man of superior judgment, and one of the representative citizens of Conecuh. Mr. and Mrs. Murdock have a family of four children: Fannie A., wife of J. J. Carr; Rozilla C., teacher in the schools of Brooklyn; Hattie E., engaged in educational work near home, and William B. Mrs. Murdock's parents were natives of North Carolina. They were married in Georgia, thence moved to Florida, and in 1865 came to Alabama. Mrs. Murdock was the fifth child of a family of nine children and was born in Georgia, February 23, 1852. Mr. Murdock's father, James W. Murdock, was born in Montgomery county, Alabama, in the year 1817. Married in Calhoun county, in 1846, Nancy H. Young, and six years later moved to the county of Dale, where Mrs. Murdock died in 1889. James Murdock is a farmer and one of the well informed men of his county, where for a number of years he held the office of justice of the peace. At the close of the war he was elected member of the general assembly of Ala- bama, but becoming disgusted with the methods of reconstruction, he refused to take his seat in that body. He is living at this time in Dale county, where he is widely and favorably known. The following are the names of the children born to James W., and Nancy Murdock: Will- iam I., La Fayette, Washington, Jane, wife of Daniel McSwean, John Jackson, Amariah S., Edward and Savannah, wife of Allen Swean. William Murdock, grandfather of the subject of this mention, was a native of North Carolina, moved to Alabama in the early part of the present century, and died in Dale county about the year 1862. Mr. Mur- dock's maternal grandfather, was Isaac Young, who moved in an early day from the state of Tennessee, and settled in Calhoun county, Ala.
PROF. CHARLES A. NEWTON is a New Englander, born in the town of Swanton, Vt., on the 27th day of January, 1836. His parents, S. W. and Charlotte A. (Smith) Newton, were also natives of Vermont, the father born in the year 1805. S. W. Newton was by occupation a me- chanic and followed the trade of millwright for a number of years in
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