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 95
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with the Missionary Baptist church. In 1885, she was married to John P. Barr, a farmer, who resides in Henry county, Ala. Obed C. Doster grew to manhood as a farmer, attended school in the winter months when he could be spared from the farm. He proved an apt scholar, and by the time he had reached his twenty-first year he was qualified to teach school. He then taught school and at the same time operated his farm, and pre- vious to an accident, by which he partly lost the use of his right hand, he was considered the best penman in Dale county. In 1885 he moved to Newton and established the Newton Messenger, a weekly newspaper, which he edited and published for five years, and under his efficient man- agement the Messenger attained a large circulation and many friends. In 1883, he commenced to study law, without an instructor, and continued in this manner until he was master of the profession. On June 12th, 1887, he was admitted to the bar, and on January 16. 1891, he was admitted to practice in the supreme court of the state. He was married, in 1876, to Miss Lydia A. Barr, a daughter of John P. Barr, a prominent farmer of Pike county, Ala. Mrs. Doster was born in Barbour connty, in August, 1862. She was married in her sixteenth year, and is now the mother of nine children, seven of whom are living: Obed C., James P., Lydia E. A .. Mary J., Grover, Vidah, and Harry M. Mrs. Doster was several years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, but of late years has been a member of the Missionary Baptist church. Mr. Doster was elected to the office of mayor of Newton in 1890. He was elected chairman of the demo- cratic county executive committee of Dale county in 1888, and served two years, refusing to allow his name to be used for re-election. July 1, 1892, he was appointed, by the democratic state executive committee, one of the committee of four to re-organize the democratic party of Dale county, which committee performed its labors to the satisfaction of all concerned. Mr. Doster became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, when a boy, but united with the Missionary Baptist church in 1883. He has in the course of his life had many obstacles to overcome, the greatest of which was perhaps the limited education he received in his youth. This, how- ever, he has done much to overcome by private application in later years, and he now has a fine law practice, not confined to Dale county, and his reputation as a lawyer is rapidly expanding. He is a democrat of the straightest sect, and is a leader in his party. He has a host of friends who recognize in him a man of ability, of honor and of public spirit.
SIMEON J. DOSTER, a prominent farmer of Dale county, was born in Mecklenburg county, N. C., in 1825. He is a son of Joel and Mary (Winchester) Doster, the former of whom was born in North Carolina, October 17, 1777. Joel Doster grew up in the state of his nativity, and was married there and lived there until 1836, when he moved with his family to Talbot county, Ga. Here he bought a farm and engaged extensively in farming until 1846, when he moved to Alabama in wagons and settled in Dale county, near where the village of Ariosto now stands.
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Here he bought a large plantation and continued farming until his death in May, 1854. Politically he was an old line whig, until the whig party ceased to exist, after which he was a democrat. He was a man of vigor- ous constitution and of great force of character. He was a zealous Methodist, and lived a consistent christian until his death. The mother of our subject was born in Mecklenburg county, N. C., 1790. She grew to womanhood under the parental roof and received such an education as the times and schools afforded. She married at the age of sixteen, and had ten children, nine of whom reached maturity, and of these only our subject and one sister are now living. She was pious from early life and became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at the age of thirteen. The christianity of husband and family is due greatly to her fervid piety and exemplary character. She was of great intellectual force and of a charitable disposition, and of that bright and sunny nature, which is loved by all. She died in 1862 and sleeps with her husband and children in the church-yard near the old homestead. The subject of this sketch was brought up on a farm in the simplicity of a country life. He was born a cripple, which he overcame to a great extent as he came to man- hood. He was able to labor, and learned, under the guidance of his father, how to manage a farm, which was of great use to him in after life. He had received such an education as the common schools and his limited means allowed; his ambition for books was not satisfied. At the age of sixteen he began teaching school, in Talbot county, Ga. By this means
he was enabled to enter the Collinsworth manual labor school, under a learned faculty, and a bright roll of students, McTyre, Harris, Goeman, Key, and many others, who were crowned in after life with honor bright. Here our subject began his classical course and continued it until money failed. In 1844, he, the friendless stranger, with no means, no introduc- tion, but an iron will to succeed, began to teach at Midway, Ala. He
used the vacation months of the first year to attend John's Classical insti- tute, at Tuskegee, Macon county. In 1852 he left for the university of Virginia. After one year's stay he spent the balance of time and money in observation at Washington and New York, Yale college, Boston com- mons, Bunker Hill monument and Saratoga-all a rich store for thought and useful knowledge, and with the pleasing comfort of paying his own expenses. In the fall of 1853 he returned to Midway and resumed teach- ing. ' He continued in that vocation, at Midway, Clayton, Louisville, and Troy, aggregating forty-six years. Success and popular approval at- tended all his schools. This was when academy schools of high order prevailed in Alabama. They were the colleges of the poor boy and schools of profit. He was a good disciplinarian and instructor. His
school became the reformatory for culprits and condemned exiles from other schools. He had among his pupils many who afterward rose to prominence in the state, such as A. A. Wiley, of Montgomery, H. D. Clay- ton, of Eufaula, R. H. Pearsons, of Birmingham, W .. F. Vandiver, of
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Montgomery, I. H. Parks, of Crenshaw, John Tullis, of Eufaula, beside many others scattered over the gulf states. Our subject, although not a politician, kept posted on government and politics, and was elected to the legislature in 1876, serving one term, during which he was the author of several important bills regarding public schools, which he was instru- mental in getting enacted into laws. In 1853, he bought the plantation on which he now resides. He lost much property by the war, but by in- dustry, economy and general good management he has made the farm productive and insured a competency for old age. He retired from public service in 1884, and now lives at his ease, though still directing the opera- tions on his farm. In September, 1869, he was married to Miss Sarah Tucker, daughter of James Tucker, who was a native of Georgia, who at a later day moved to Barbour county, Ala. Mrs. Doster was born in Barbour county. She was a student at Cuthbert college, Ga., and was married in her thirtieth year. She is now the mother of three children: Mary E., James J. and Sarah L. Mr. and Mrs. Doster and their daughter are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, and in politics Mr. Doster was formerly a whig. He admired the talent and American policy of the party. He is now a steadfast democrat and for the constitutional rights of the whole people. He is in every sense of the word a self-made man, having attained his present standing by his own unaided and self- directed efforts. He now enjoys the love of his pupils, the respect and confidence of good citizens. He enjoys the pleasant memories of the past and steady, bright hopes of rest in the future.
DANIEL Y. DOWLING. Ozark, member of the firm of Dowling Bros., com- posed of Daniel Y. and Noel P. Dowling, merchants and manufactur- ers of all kinds of leather, was born in 1842 in Dale county. He is a son of Noel and Sarah D. Dowling, a sketch of whom is given in connection with that of John W. Dowling. Daniel Y. Dowling grew to manhood and received his early education in the schools of Dale county. He enlisted at Greenville in August, 1861, as a private soldier in company I, Thirty- third Alabama infantry, and served four years. He was assigned to the western army and was under the command of Col. Sam. Adams, Lowry's brigade, Cleburne's division, Gen. Hardee's corps. He participated in many a hard-fought battle and skirmish, among them the following: Mur- freesboro, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Stone Mountain, Kenesaw Moun- tain. July 3, 1864, at the battle at the latter point he was taken prisoner and sent to Camp Morton, Ind., where he remained in confine- ment until March 13, 1865, when he was paroled. He then came home and commenced farming, operating his father's farm one year. He then began business for himself, continuing till 1870, when he formed a co. partnership with his brother Noel, and this firm established a tannery and leather manufacturing business, also made shoes and harness. In 1880 they established themselves in general merchandise, in which they have been eminently successful, carrying a stock of goods worth from $5,000
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to $10,000. In 1886 Mr. Dowling established a branch store at Geneva, Ala., which he conducted for three years, then returned to Ozark. The firm now owns and operates a tannery, a leather manufac- tory and a large general store. November 14, 1865, Mr. Dowling was married to Miss Rebecca J. Dick, daughter of William Dick, who was a native of North Carolina, but who settled in Alabama in 1822. His death occurred in 1861. Mrs. Dick was a native of South Carolina, but came with her parents into Alabama in 1825 and was married in Dale county in 1840. She is the mother of seven children, five of whom still sur- vive. She now lives near Ozark, and is a member of the Missionary Bap- tist church. The wife of Daniel Y. Dowling was born in Dale county in 1845, and was married in her nineteenth year. She is the mother of a large family, seven of which survive. Early is employed as book-keeper in the store of his father; he graduated in 1891 from the Atlanta busi- ness college, with first honors; Marcus is employed as a clerk in the store of his father; Hart; Young D .; Lannie; Mertie M. and Irene G., students of Ozark high school. Mrs. Dowling is a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, south. Mr. D. Y. Dowling has always been identified with everything calculated to benefit the city of Ozark. He was active in establishing the State bank at Ozark, which was organized in 1890 with a capital of $50,000. He was elected a diretcor for 1891 and proved him- self an efficient officer. In June, 1892, he was elected vice-president of the bank, which is in a prosperous and healthy condition. Mr. Dowling is regarded as a stanch and progressive business man, public spirited and always interested in what promises to build up the city. He is a member of Ozark lodge, No. 349, F. & A. M., and of the Methodist Epis- copal church. He has been a member of the municipal board for a num- ber of years. Politically he is a straight out democrat. The Dowling family was founded in Virginia by John W. Dowling, great-grandfather of Daniel Y. His son, Dempsey Dowling, was a minister in the Methodist Episcopal church, south, in North Carolina, and moved to Alabama in 1826. John MacDonald, the maternal grandfather of D. Y., came from Scotland to the United States in 1778 and settled at Norfolk, Va., and from him sprang the family on the mother's side. No family stands higher in Dale county than that of the Dowlings, and none are more active or in- fluential in whatever tends to benefit the community in which they live.
GABRIEL P. DOWLING, merchant at Ozark, was born in Dale county, August 6, 1848. He was one of nine children born to Noel and Mrs. Dowling, whose lives have been presented in the memoir of John W. Dowling. Gabriel P. Dowling grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving but a meager education. When eighteen years of age he attended school one year, at the end of which time he entered the store of W. D. Barrow, as clerk, remaining one year, and in 1870 he entered the store of Dowling & Garner, remaining with them until January, 1890, when he es-
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
tablished himself in the hardware business in partnership with his brother, John W., under the firm name of G. P. Dowling & Co. On Jan- uary 13, 1880, he was married to Miss Elfie A. Smith, daughter of Rev. Caswell and Sarah (Hooks) Smith. Rev. Mr. Smith was a native of Georgia, and came to Alabama in 1855. He was instrumental in founding many Methodist Episcopal churches and Sunday schools throughout the country. He settled in Skipperville, Dale county, and engaged in farm- ing in connection with his ministerial duties. Later he removed to Haw Ridge, where he lived ten years, when he removed to Ozark, where he lived until his death, which occurred January, 1892. He was a man of broad views and preached the gospel for many years. The wife of G. P. Dowling was born in Georgia and came to Alabama with her parents, grew to womanhood, and was educated in the Ozark schools. She mar- ried at the age of twenty, and is the mother of seven children. The eld- est is the wife of H. M. Sessions, clerk of the Ozark bank; Horace is a clerk in his father's store; Harry C .; Susan O .; Sallie, and Roscoe; the last four are all students in the Ozark high school; the youngest is Albert T. Mrs. Dowling early united in life with the Methodist church, of which she has ever since been a faithful and consistent member. Mr. Dowling now occupies a handsome brick store and carries a stock of from $8,000 to $12,000. Politically, Mr. Dowling is a democrat, and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. He has never been an aspirant for office, but has consented to hold sev- eral minor offices from time to time. He has been instrumental in secur- ing the Alabama Midland railroad, a system of water works enjoyed by the citizens of Ozark, and has always been active in building up the schools, the churches and all social institutions that tend to improve mankind. Mr. Dowling is conceded by all to be second to none both as a citizen and as a business man.
JOHN W. DOWLING, a prominent merchant of Ozark, was born in Dale county, December 6, 1832. He is a son of Noel and Sarah D. (MacDonald) Dowling, and grew to manhood on his father's farm in Dale county. Noel Dowling, the father of John W., was born in Darlington county, S. C., December 25, 1809. In 1826 he came to Alabama and settled in Dale county, then a wilderness. In 1831 he married Miss MacDonald of Skipper- ville, Dale county, and soon afterward located at Clay Bank, where he had a family born to him of eight sons and one daughter. Here among the wild scenes of pioneer life he followed farming, in all, for sixty-one years, finally retiring to Ozark, where he passed the few last remaining years of his life, dying June 15, 1892, at the ripe age of eighty-three years. He always was a man of correct principles and honest purposes, and has transmit- ted to his posterity in the memory of his life a consolation and an encouragement unstained and unsullied as it is by any improper act of his. He was active in establishing and sustaining churches and schools, and throughout all his life maintained the reputation of his ancestry. The
JOHN W. DOWLING.
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founder of the family was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, a deter- mined whig, and took an active part against the tories of that period. The mother of John W. Dowling was born in Jasper county, Ga., in 1813. She was married at the age of seventeen, and had nine children, John W. being the eldest of the nine. Seven of these are still living, four of whom are merchants of Ozark, one is a farmer of Dale county and one is a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, south. John MacDonald, the father of the mother of John W., was a Methodist divine, and a prominent character in early days of Dale county. John W., while a young man, assisted his father in clearing the farm of its thick under- brush and heavy growth of timber, attending the country school as op- portunity afforded, and obtaining, therefore, only a limited education. At the age of twenty-seven he was elected by the people tax collector of Dale county, holding the office two years. He then entered the mercan- tile firm of H. W. B. Price & Bro., of Columbia, Ala., as a clerk, remain- ing with the firm a year, when he returned to Ozark, and became a part- ner of Martin Carroll. He had just returned from New Orleans, where he had been to purchase goods for the firm, when the war broke out. He enlisted in the spring of 1861 for twelve months in the Dale guards, W. T. McCall, captain, and John W., second lieutenant. The services of this company, being offered to the state, were accepted, and the company was sent to Pensacola, where it became company F, Seventh Alabama infantry, under command of Col. S. M. Wood. It remained there until November, 1861, when the regiment was ordered to east Tennessee, and thence to Bowling Green, Ky., where it became a part of A. S. John- ston's army corps. At Corinth, Miss., company F was disbanded, hav- ing served out the time for which it had enlisted. Mr. Dowling there- upon returned to Ozark, and began farming, which he continued until August, when in connection with others he organiezd a company of vol- unteers called the Partisan rangers, which company marched August 27th, 1862, to Montgomery, where it was mustered in as company E, Fif- ty-third Alabama, R. F. Davis, captain, and John W. second lieutenant. This regiment as mounted infantry was ordered to Columbus, Miss., and thence to Huntsville, Ala., where it became a portion of a brigade of mounted infantry under command of Gen. Rondy, which was assigned to the army of Tennessee. John W. was detailed to command a scouting party and reached Blountsville, Ala., shortly after the Union General Streight had passed through the place on his famous raid. General Rondy's brigade was now attached to Gen. Forrest's command and soon afterward the Fifty-third Alabama was sent to the valley of the Tennes- see and thence to Dale county, Ala. While on a scouting expedition John W. discovered the Union Colonel Coreigne crossing the Tennessee river, which fact he immediately reported to a superior in command, showing his activity in the performance of his duty. This was the raid in which the cotton factories of Florence, Ala., were burned. The Fifty-
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third regiment was then ordered to Decatur, Ala., and John W. was de- tailed for six weeks on picket duty, at the mouth of Flint creek, Lime- stone county, Tenn. On February 24, 1864, he was ordered to join Gen. Johnston's army at Dalton, Ga., where he was detailed on picket and patrol duty for a time. Then under Gen. Wheeler he took part in the battle of New Hope Church, April 27, 1864. He was with General John- ston when he ordered his army to fall back beyond the Chattahoochee in preparation for a great battle at Atlanta, in which he hoped and ex- pected to defeat and rout Gen. Sherman. While the army was moving across the Chattahoochee the Federal soldiers broke through the rear guard, and the Fifty-third Alabama was ordered to its support. In this sally Mr. Dowling was so severely wounded by the explosion of a shell that he was permanently disabled for active service and as soon as pos- sible was sent home. As soon as he was able he joined the home guards, whose duty it was to oppose invasion, to suppress lawlessness and to cap- ture deserters. At the close of hostilities, Mr. Dowling found himself very poor. He had a wife to support, and for property he had only two old cavalry horses, a sword, two navy pistols and two chairs, and as there were three in the family he sawed off the end of a log for himself to sit on. He had also four bales of cotton, which he sold for 48 cents per pound. Under these circumstances he began life anew on a farm and has continued the life of an agriculturist ever since. When re construc- tion was in process under President Johnson, he was elected county superintendent of education; but when congress took reconstructoin out of the hands of the president, he lost his office and thus found himself an alien in his own country. However, in connection with his farming, his office and his school teaching, he managed to save money enough to purchase a small farm near the village of Ozark, of which he took pos- session January 1, 1867. During this year, Mr. Dowling found a man who could take the iron-clad oath, and through this man he secured cer- tain mail contracts at a very remunerative figure, which he held for twelve consecutive years, and from the income thus derived he laid the foundation of his fortune. In 1862 he had formed a partnership with William H. Barrow and was with him in the mercantile and liquor busi- ness for some time. In 1870 he sold out his interest to Mr. Barrow and formed a partnership with J. H. Garner in general merchandising, went. to New York to buy goods, which he had to haul from Eufaula by team, a distance of fifty miles, and in order to carry on his business, he found it necessary to borrow $1,000 at 15 per cent. interest, and afterward $750 more at 25 per cent. ; but notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the business at length became self-sustaining, and after a successful partnership of ten years, Mr. Garner withdrew from the firm, taking out in cash as his share $15,000. Mr. Dowling has since conducted the business in his own name and has now one of the largest stores in Ozark. In 1882. Mr. Dowling was elected to the state legislature without opposition.
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and in 1884 he was re-elected, defeating his opponent by 498 votes. In 1888 he was nominated for the state senate, but owing to his loyalty to the city of his residence he was defeated. He was married May 11, 1862, to Miss Anna J. Thompson, of Tampa, Fla., daughter of John Thompson, a native of Massachusetts, and a sea-faring man- Miss Thompson was born at Key West, Fla., and was brought up at Tampa. On account of the early death of her parents she was reared and educated by her grandparents. She was married in her twenty- second year, has no children and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, of which Mr. Dowling is also a member. He belongs to Ozark lodge, No. 349, F, & A. M. He has always been an active worker for the good of the community in the religious line, in the school and in an industrial way. After the project for the building of a railroad from Eufaula to Ozark had apparently been abandoned he secured a promise from Maj. Alexander that it should be built, and it was accordingly con- structed in 1887, and Mr. Dowling was made a member of the board of directors, for the construction of the road. He was also active in secur- ing the construction of the Alabama Midland railroad, of which com- pany he is a stockholder. He owns numerous lots and buildings in Ozark and also a farm of 2,000 acres of land. He has served as mayor of the city and has been a member of its council and also of the board of education. He attributes his success in life to a strict attention to business, honest weights and full measures, and the prompt meeting of all his obligations. He has always considered his word as good as a secured note, and has done as nearly as possible to his customers as he would have had done to him.
GEORGE W. KELLY, merchant of Midland City, was born in Terrell county, Ga., September 24, 1853. He is a son of E. B. and Elizabeth (Smith) Kelly, the former of whom was born in Morgan county, Ga., and there grew to manhood. He had but limited school opportunities, his time being occupied by his duties upon the farm. He married in his twenty-second year and moved to Alabama in 1856, settling in Dale county, near the present site of Midland City. Here he bought and im- proved a farm, remaining thereon until 1885, when he retired from active life, and now leads a life of ease and retirement in Midland. While never taking an active interest in politics, he has always been a believer in democratic principles. He has been a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, south, for many years. His wife was also a native of Geor- gia. She was married in her twentieth year, and is now the mother of ten children, four of whom still survive, and two of whom reside in Columbus, Ga., and one in Florida: Mrs. Kelly has been a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, south, since her twelfth year. The subject of this sketch grew up on the farm, with but limited educa- tional advantages, and was given his freedom by his father when in his twentieth vear. He then worked for his father one year for $200, with
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